


Life After You

by devdev2017



Series: It's Not Over [1]
Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: BAMF Carl Grimes, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes Feels, Little Ass Kicker mentioned, Lori Grimes Bashing, M/M, Morgan ships it, Multi, Polyamorous relationship, Protective Daryl Dixon, Rick and Daryl are great Dads, Road Trips, Sort Of, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-01-09 07:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12271671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/devdev2017/pseuds/devdev2017
Summary: At the end of their lives husbands Rick and Daryl leave this world together. Their family scattered to the winds or dead. Despite their love for each other and their kids they can't claim to have had happy lives. But what does one expect when you're trying to survive a zombie apocalypse?Neither of them expected to wake up and have to do it all over again. This time they are determined to keep their family safe. This time they'll do more than just survive. They've lived in this hell world long enough to know how to thrive.Now if only they could get the rest of their family to see things their way. And keep their enemies off their backs.I don't know why but I love time travel AUs. So I figured I'd try my hand at it.





	1. Prologue: The End

Daryl Dixon had always figured he would die a violent death, even before the end of the world. He hadn’t imagined dying like this though, no where in his fever hazed mind had he imagined this. Rick was down to one bullet. The cop pulled Daryl’s body on top of his. Lining up their heads side by side. Trusty python pressed to Daryl’s temple by his husband of five years.

After the war with Negin there had been nothing left. The communities had all but destroyed each other. Their family, what remained of it, had left the human communities. They were just easy targets. Any large group was. They had also grown tired of leading groups, the politics and drama. Their only concern was for each other. They headed south where the winters were milder. Then west where there weren’t any swamps with mosquitos carrying diseases. Daryl couldn’t say where that was though. Only that they had barely had a sprinkling of snow in the last three years. Eventually it was whittled down so that only Rick, Carl, Judy, and Daryl were left.

They had lost Carl a year ago when the nineteen year old had run off in the middle of the night. Taking almost half of their supplies. Daryl would bet that the boy had gone to join another small group they had crossed recently. There had been a girl about his age with them. He had wanted the groups to join. Rick and Daryl refused. They had tracked him as far as they could, but Daryl had taught his adoptive son too well. It had devastated them.

Two weeks ago Judy had gotten sick. Neither of them had been able to end their daughter’s life. As it turned out they needn't have worried. She didn’t turn. Their only guess was that it was because she was born after the initial illness that had started the rise of the dead. It had brought some relief, but it hadn’t eased their grief. They buried her beneath a tree near a field of flowers. Carving her name into the tree that would serve as her grave marker.

Soon after Daryl had gotten sick with whatever Judy must have had. Now he lay in his husband’s arms. Faces pressed side by side. The fever was clouding his thoughts, but he could swear that Rick’s skin was clammy and warmer than it should be. The cold mettle of the old python pressed to Daryl’s temple felt good.

“Love you Darlin’” Rick whispered into his ear.

“Love ya too, Bebe,” Daryl slurred. A bang sounded in the quiet of their cabin. Neither knew any more.


	2. Chapter 2

Daryl woke up in a cold sweat. Looking around a tent that seemed familiar, but that wasn’t saying much. Since the beginning of the end he’d gone from one tent to the next. If he was lucky enough to have one.

A rattle on the roof had him cursing. He threw off the confines of his sleeping bag. Eyes sweeping the tent for his collection of weapons. Nothing. Not even a gun or knife under his pillow.

“Darylina, I know ya think you need all the beauty sleep you can get, but it isn’t going to help yer ugly mug!” a voice he hadn’t heard in years called threw the door.

“Merle?” Daryl called out. Glancing around he noticed that the tent he was in looked like, no it was his old tent from the beginning. The one he’d shared with Merle before his brother had left for the run to Atlanta. How was that possible? The apocalypse couldn’t have been a dream, could it? No. He couldn’t have dreamt up any of that, especially not his relationship with Rick or their kids.

“Come on if we’re going to get breakfast we better get a move on before the Mexicans eat it all,” Merle hollered, rattling the tent again.

Daryl froze. He remembered that day. He remembered going around camp and squirreling away supplies because his brother wanted to run off. Not that Daryl had been given much of a choice. Back then it had been Merle’s way or going to bed hungry. Hell most nights he went to bed hungry anyway. It had happened about a week before the Atlanta run. A week before Merle was handcuffed to the roof. A week before Daryl had first met Rick.

Daryl lay back down on his pillow as the world began to spin. He had been sent back. Had the same thing happened to the others? If his brother was anything to go off of the answer was no. It didn’t matter. Even if he was the only one to remember he would take this miracle. He would use it to save his family. To get more time with his husband and children. To ensure their survival. And to try and help them not just to survive, but to _live_.

There was just one thing he had to do first. Daryl needed to see his family, even if they might not remember him. He scrounged around for his old duffle bag, pulling out his clothes. He strapped his hunting knife to his leg. Slung his bow over his shoulder. Ready to go he pulled open the flap to his brother’s annoyed face.

“Finally! Lets go grab some grub,” Merle turned to the fire.

“I’ll be there in a minute. Goin' to check on Carl first,” Daryl swore up and down that he wouldn’t let Carl and Rick’s relationship become as strain as it had last time.

“What the fuck? You going soft little brother? Need I remind you that we’re going to rob these fools blind,” Merle puffed up his chest. Daryl bit his cheek to keep a smile from creeping onto his face. The image was laughable. Real threats didn’t have to look big. No the biggest threats were often smaller and wore a charming smile.

“I’ve been trying to talk to you all week. I know Carl, and his Dad. I can’t do that to them Merle. Don’t ask me to,” Daryl warned, his voice dripping venom. He was grateful his brother was alive, but this wasn’t the brother who had finally acted the way a brother should. This wasn’t the Merle who had finally done right by him. No this was the dishonorably discharged, juvie, meth head that had forced his beliefs onto a boy too young to make his own decisions.

“Don’t you talk to me like that,” Merle’s face became dark. Daryl took a deep breath. He didn’t want to alienate his brother. At the same time he also needed to be with his family, his son. Even if he was the only one to remember.

“I know we don’t say it cause we’re Dixons or some shit, but I do love you brother,” Daryl readjusted the cross bow as he moved in the direction of the tent he knew Carl was in, “just figured you should know incase somethin’ happens.”

He left his brother staring after him slack jawed.

Once he got to the tent Carl shared with his mom and Shane he stopped. It’s funny the first thought he’d had after realizing he was in the past, was that he had to get to his family. He had to see Carl. Find Rick if he didn’t show up in a week. He’d snatch Carl from the clutches of crazy Shane and manipulative Lori. Tell the kid they were going after his Dad, which was true. That would only be necessary though if Carl and Rick didn’t remember him.

Now though he was scared. The worst, well not _the_ worst, thing he could imagine was that neither of them remembered him. Daryl took a steadying breath. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, that had already happened. He would just have to be patient and seduce Rick back, again, whatever. And he could use the time he had with Carl to cement himself as a father figure in the kid’s life.

He rattled the side of the tent then waited. As he heard footsteps from inside Daryl held his breath. When Lori unzipped the door that breath left him in a whoosh. He hadn’t counted on anyone but Carl opening the door. Which was stupid, they lived in an apocalypse no one was going to leave their kids alone.

“Can I help you?” Lori’s smile dropped into a wry frown. As her eyes swept over him he saw her look of disgust and cringed. He wished he could have put on something other than his thread bare cloths. Sure he’d never liked the woman, but they needed her alive for Judith’s sake. It would make his life easier if they could be civil.

“I-um..” Daryl stumbled, but before he could form a proper sentence Shane poked his head out and all he could think was…Crap.

“What is it Dixon?” Shane glared. Daryl cleared his throat and straitened up. He had faced a lot more crazy and intimidating people than Shane and Lori. This was for Carl’s sake. He could and would do anything for his kids.

“I was gonna go hunt. I thought I’d offer to teach Carl to track,” he offered.

“What?” Shane’s face screwed up.

“You are not teaching my son to kill,” Lori said firmly. He stopped himself from rolling his eyes. She sure changed her tone from begging _her own son_ to kill her after she turned. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t the same woman, not yet.

“You’re right, I’m not. I only offered to teach him to track,” Daryl said to appease her.

“Why would you want to do that at all?” Shane asked. He understood where Officer Prick was coming from. Daryl hadn’t shown any interest in the kids, or the group, outside of providing them with meat from his hunts. That was about to change.

“He needs to start learning how to survive,” he said. The truth was that the whole group needed to learn how to survive. As it was they were acting like this whole zombie apocalypse would blow over. In all the years he had lived after the end he hadn’t seen any sign of humanity rebuilding itself. The closest it got was Alexandria and the other communities. Which had destroyed each other.

“I can take care of Carl just fine,” Shane bristled.

“Of course you can, until you die,” Daryl pointed out.

“You aren’t going anywhere with my son,” Lori snarled. Daryl held up his hands.

“You can come too, all three of you. It would probably be a good thing if more than just me and Merle know how to track,” he offered. He wouldn’t want someone who was basically a stranger running off with Carl or Judie either. Still he needed to spend time with the boy. Start ensuring he could survive. If taking others with them was the only way to do that then so be it. It would probably be good for them to start forming friendships with the others.

“Why, you planning on leaving us?” Shane accused.

“No, but I could die. Then you wouldn’t have another hunter. No hunters, no fresh meat,” he reasoned. This conversation wasn’t going where he had wanted it to.

“I’d like to learn how to track,” Carl spoke up from inside the tent. Daryl’s breath caught in his throat. It had been so long since he’d seen the boy so young. The world had aged him faster than if things hadn’t gone to shit. He fought back the lump in his throat when he looked into those blue eyes, so much like Rick’s.

“Carl, it’s not safe-“ Shane was quickly cut off by Carl.

“Daryl is the best fighter in the camp,” the boy argued.

“Don’t know ‘bout that,” Daryl felt heat rise up his neck.

“We don’t know him that well,” Lori tried to reason. Daryl snorted. They didn’t know anyone in camp that well. Before Daryl could offer a compromise Carl slipped past his mom and Shane. The kid was fully dressed in durable pants and a t-shirt. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him. He could have sworn that Carl hadn’t been wearing those cloths last go round, but so much time had past it was hard to tell. Lori tried to grab him but Carl skillfully evaded her to stand by Daryl.

“Dad does,” Carl shot back. Daryl froze. This was his Carl, his son. And if the kid was implying that his dad knew him then that must mean that Rick was his Rick. They had been sent back along with Daryl. He could have wept right then. He might later.

“You knew Rick?” Shane asked skeptically. The way he draped his arm around Lori’s shoulders didn’t scream of possessiveness. It offered comfort and support. From the sad, pained expression on the cop’s face he wondered if that move was only for Lori, or if Shane did it to comfort himself too. As far as Daryl was concerned Shane could have her. Especially if it meant Rick was free to love Daryl.

“Yeah, I know him” Daryl pointedly used present tense words.

“How did you know Rick?” Lori asked. Daryl could have sworn her eyes flashed with something, but just as soon as it was there the look was gone.

“We met when he was in Atlanta for work,” Daryl had always been a shit lier. Better at keeping quiet until people got tired of waiting and moved on. This was close enough to the truth though that it could be believable.

“You aren’t from the city,” Shane said. He was starting to feel like this was an interrogation. He understood the skepticism. He had made a point not to tell anyone what he did before the world fell last time. With the exception of Rick and the kids. He wasn’t about to start now.

“I was just passin’ through,” he shrugged. He’d have to come up with a reason why he was in Atlanta. Should probably wait to get his and Rick’s story strait when the man showed up next week.

“And Carl knows you how?” Lori crossed her arms.

“Dad let me join him sometimes when they Skyped,” Carl said. The kid had become a good poker player over the years. Had to when the people could smell even a drop of blood in the water.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want you around-“ Lori paused raking judgmental eyes over Daryl before finally settling on, “weapons.”

“I’m going with Daryl,” Carl said with more maturity than any eleven year old had any right to be. Daryl’s heart ached a little at that. True he wouldn’t have to worry about Carl as much but the boy deserved to have some kind on childhood.

“No, you’re not,” Lori slipped into her ‘Qeenie’ attitude.

“Mom-“ Carl started to raise his voice but instead took a deep breath, “I need some space from you and Shane.”

Smart kid. Carl had learned to use some of that phycological warfare, or manipulation, depending on how one looked at it. Daryl and Rick would have to watch that. Make sure Carl didn’t loose himself like so many of their enemies had in their mind games.

“What are you talking about?” Lori’s tone was strained as she shuffled her feet.

“I like Shane, but you two got together awful quick after Shane said Dad died,” Carl explained. Daryl’s head whipped around to look at him. He’d always suspected that Lori had cheated on Rick before the dead started to rise. Was Carl saying that he knew Shane and Lori had gone behind Rick’s back? Or was he just subtly accusing them?

“Sweetie, we would never do that to your dad,” Lori assured, despite the color draining from her face. Shane looked pained, maybe even a little guilty, but he didn’t have the panicked look in his eyes that Lori did. Did he just not care about what Carl thought of him?

“Carl I swear on my life that I would never do that to your Dad. Neither would your Mom,” Shane placed a gentle hand on Carl’s shoulder before opening his big mouth, “Son your dad is dead now-“

Daryl shook his head. Those were not the words to say to Carl. He’d had enough trouble getting Carl to let him call the boy that.

“I am not your son! Dad isn’t dead either,” Carl shoved the hand off him and glared at them. If looks could kill then they wouldn’t have to worry about Shane or Lori raising from the dead.

“’S why I offered ta teach him ta track. Ta give him some space. An’ so we could talk,” Daryl stepped in before Carl could say anything else. There was a long pause. Lori holding herself ridged in Shane’s embrace. Shane, for his part, looked ashamed. All Daryl could think was, good. Carl had locked down his anger. A trait he had unfortunately picked up from Daryl. _Great_ , he thought to himself, _now it’s going to be like pulling teeth_.

“You’ll keep him safe?” Shane finally spoke up. Lori looked at her lover as if he’d betrayed her, but said nothing.

“With my life,” Daryl swore. The cop nodded. With that Daryl and Carl went to grab some breakfast before heading out. Once they were far enough away from the camp Daryl found his arms full of Carl. He held on tightly to his son. It felt good to have Carl back in his arms. After a while he expected him to let go, but Carl continued to cling to the hunter.

“Since when are you so affectionate?” Daryl asked after a moment. Carl stiffened before looking up at him with sad eyes.

“I’m sorry I left Mom. I was angry. I thought you and Dad were cowards for not joining that group. I missed having a group. I thought I could do better than Dad. I was wrong, so very wrong,” Carl looked up at him with a tear stained face. Daryl swallowed around the lump in his throat. Carl had started calling him that to tease him. Of course Judy had just started speaking. When she also called Daryl ‘Mom’ it had stuck.

“I’m just glad you’re here with me now, but we will be talking about what happened,” Daryl assured.

“Can we wait till Dad gets here? I don’t want to explain it more than once,” Carl asked.

“Sure thing kid,” Daryl ruffled his hair. Carl had always tried to duck away from any hair ruffling. Instead the boy leaned into Daryl’s touch. It made him dread finding out what exactly had happened.

“I’m so glad you and Dad remember. Do you think any of the others remember too?” Carl asked.

“Hard to say. We’ll have to play it by ear,” Daryl shrugged. They started to make their way threw the forest. Keeping their voices low and looking for tracks.

“When did you remember?” Carl asked.

“This mornin’, what about you an’ yer Dad?” Daryl asked.

“Couple of weeks before Dad got shot. Think I remembered sooner, but at first I thought it was just a bunch of nightmares,” Carl said.

“And he still wound up shot? How’d that happen?”

“He’s Dad, no one can tell him not to save people. Not even me,” Carl shook his head. Daryl cussed a blue streak. The kid got a kick out of it.

“This time though he’ll be more prepared,” Carl smirked. He pointed out a trail of a couple of rabbits that they started to follow.

“Knowledge of the future ’s probably helpful,” Daryl nodded.

“Oh, it’s not just that,” Carl had a mischievous glint in his eye. It reminded him of Rick when he had one of his half crazy plans.

“What did you do?” Daryl paused. He turned to face the kid.

Carl looked like the cheshire cat with his big grin, “Let’s just say I left Dad a little…care package.”

They had been hunting for an hour before Carl spoke again.

“There’s something else. I didn’t get a chance to tell Dad before he fell into the coma,” Carl’s face was a mix of anger and pain. Daryl placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Carl placed his own hand over Daryl’s.

“I saw something. I was skipping class-“

“Carl,” Daryl dragged his name out disapprovingly.

“I had a nightmare the night before, about how I…died. I couldn’t go to school like that,” Carl bit at his lip. Daryl squeezed the shoulder he was still holding. He received a tight lipped smile in return.

“I started making lists in my head of all the stores that we could hit. I know we didn’t really go back, it was just something to do. I was walking past this alley when I heard groaning. I jumped out of my skin thinking it was a walker,”

Daryl had sucked in his breath at the thought of his boy running into a walker. He let that breath out slowly as Carl went on.

“It wasn’t a walker. After a moment I realized that it was just two people making out in an alley. I was about to move on when I realized that the woman was my Mom,”

“She was with Shane, wasn’t she?” Daryl asked. He had always put money down on those two going behind Rick’s back before things went to hell. Rick was better off without either of those-

“It wasn’t Shane,” Carl said slowly, like he wished that it had been his dad’s best friend. Which was ridiculous.

“How do you know?” Daryl asked.

“Because the guy had blond hair and blue eyes,” Carl looked up at him as he said it. He felt like someone had punched him. Lori had been cheating on Rick while they were still together before all of this.

At least Shane hadn’t went behind Rick’s back like that, but it didn’t erase how he had continued their affair. Or how he had tried to kill Rick. Part of Daryl wanted to blame that on the mental break the man had clearly suffered, that part sounded a lot like Rick. If Lori had been with someone else before, where was he now? Had he ever been part of their group?

Blond hair and blue eyes. The first face that popped up in his mind was-

“Fuck, you think that this guy is Judith’s father?” Daryl blinked owlishly at the solum boy.

“It would explain her coloring. Her eyes never looked quite like Dad’s. She didn’t look anything like Shane. What other explanation is there? I know she’s yours and Dad’s so it doesn’t matter. I’m just pissed at mom for doing that to Dad, twice,” Carl scowled.

“I’m going to go next week with the group going to Atlanta. Make sure your Dad gets to us. I’ll tell him what you saw. Might change somethings, not sure how but it might,” Daryl decided to take this burden from Carl. The boy’s shoulders finally relaxed, if only a little bit. His smile made him look his age.

“Thanks,”

“You’re poor Dad, wonder how he’s going to take this. Why is she with Shane then? Where’s this mystery guy?” he asked as they moved back into hunting. They’d moved on from rabbits and were now tracking a deer. He thought that it was weird how Lori had kept these secrets the whole time, even at the end.

“No idea,” Carl spoke quickly before adding after a long pause, “Do you think we ever met him?”

“Naw, no one fits that description. He’s probably a walker back where you lived,” Daryl tried to reassure both of them. He was worried about Carl’s answer. He would try to nudge more out of the now pre-teen before Rick arrived. It might be another thing that Carl only wanted to explain once.

“You want to kill the deer?” he asked, holding out his cross bow.

“Hell yeah!” Carl cheered taking the bow in hand. It was noon before they found the deer they’d been tracking. As Carl shot what would feed them tonight Daryl realized that he was going to have to get the little hunter his own bow.


	3. Wake Up God Damn It!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good morning Rick, how's that gunshot wound feeling today?

Rick groaned in pain. Why did he think it was a good idea to let himself get shot? Daryl was probably torn between berating him, and laughing his ass off. Well, if Daryl even remembered him. He really hoped his husband remembered. Not that he wouldn’t enjoy seducing his hunter, but he remembered how painfully slow that process had been due to his upbringing.

Blinking his eyes open Rick saw the ceiling tiles of the hospital room he had woken up in all those years ago. Man he’d been stupid last time. How had he not noticed the danger? He wanted to think it was the pain, but he’d been in worse since and still hadn’t made half the mistakes he did after waking up from the coma. He knew better now. With that in mind Rick closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, giving his body time to heal.

The next time he woke up his stomach was growling and he felt like he was dying of thirst. That wasn’t anything new though. He tugged the IV out of his arm. Then he slowly sat up and surveyed to room. He had to push past a bout of dizziness, but found his way to his feet. If he was a little shaky there was no one to say. His eyes darted around the room before landing on a chair under the window for visitors. He took that and jammed it underneath the door knob. Feeling more secure he turned to the bathroom. He shuffled his way to it. When he opened the door he smiled in pride. There on the toilet was a suitcase.

A couple weeks before he was shot Rick had woken up sobbing. Believing he’d just killed the love of his life and himself. He had screamed and fallen out of bed when Lori had put a hand on his shoulder. Later he quietly told himself that it was a very manly scream.

For a while he had thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Only if he were in heaven where was Daryl? Why did he and Carl look so young, the way they hadn’t been in years. He couldn’t deny that a part of him felt made whole when he held Carl in his arms. Another part felt shattered that Judie wasn’t there. Then a heavy weight plummeted into his stomach. What if he had dreamed it all? Rick was pretty sure his sanity would have gone strait out the window if he hand’t kept getting deja vu. Knowing what someone would say or do before it happened. That’s when Rick started realizing he’d been sent back.

It was confirmed for him when Carl started waking from nightmares. Only Rick had been able to provide any comfort. It took three nights before Carl told him that he was dreaming of survivors and walkers. His use of walkers instead of zombies or something else really clued him in. Rick asked his son if he remembered Daryl and Judith. The smile that split Carls face when he realized that Rick remembered too was blinding. Just as it split his heart because it meant that Carl had died.

After that revelation they had started planning. Carl had protested when Rick told him he still had to get shot and end up in that coma. He was sure that it had to happen again. He argued that they could use the medicine. Besides he didn’t want to leave Morgan and Duane this time around. Carl didn’t like the idea of following Shane and Lori.

Rick had reasoned that it was the best way for them to meet up with their family again. Especially Daryl. Besides he needed Carl to look after Lori until Judith was born. Carl had demanded to know what they were going to do about Shane, and to a lesser extent Lori. He hadn’t liked that Rick wanted to try keeping Shane from loosing his mind. Figuring that letting him have Lori would help. It wasn’t like Rick wanted her. A part of him would always love her, but he was with Daryl. Even if his hunter didn’t remember it. Carl was looking forward to playing matchmaker. They decided they would have put off more extensive planning until they found out if anyone else remembered.

The best part of their plan so far was the suite case. Rick and Carl had packed what he would need when he woke up from the coma. Carl brought it as a sort of care package telling his mom that it was for whenever his dad woke up. Which wasn’t far from the truth.

Rick unzipped the suitcase and pulled out a bottle of water. He managed to start taking slow sips of the water to keep from making himself sick. Once he finished the first water bottle he pulled out a meal replacement bar. It tasted horrible but it helped him feel better than he had the first time around. Once that was done Rick stripped out of the hospital gown and his soiled underwear. Then he slowly started removing the bandages. The putrid smell made him gag and sent his head spinning. Moving the bag to the floor he sat on the toilet lid.

How had he done this last time? Corse he hadn’t done any of what he was doing now. Still he had to be high on adrenaline to have walked out the way he had. Damn lucky too. It amazed him that he made it out without a weapon the first time.

When his hands stopped shaking he pulled out a wash cloth, soap, anti-septic, new gauze and bandages. Wetting the cloth and rubbing some soap into it he set to work cleaning himself up. He felt like a new man. He saved the wound for last, knowing it would hurt. Once he had washed and rinsed himself the best he could he flushed the gun shot wound with the anti-septic. Clenching his teeth together to stop from crying out and attracting walkers. He flushed it again to be thorough, before placing the new gauze and wrapping clean bandages around himself.

That done he felt exhausted. So he pulled on some clean underwear and pulled out his knife before heading back into the room. He pulled off the dirty sheets, tossing them into a pile on the floor. He found a new set and put them on the bed. Clutching the knife under his pillow Rick drifted off to sleep. He must have slept the rest of the day because the sun was just peaking threw his window when he woke up.

Rick went back to the bathroom to sit down. He ate another meal replacement bar and drank a second bottle of water. That done he pulled on his sheriff’s uniform, including the hat he planned on returning to Carl. Only difference was he pulled on his hiking boots which would come in handy. Putting the gun in it’s holster and placing the knife at his hip he decided it was time to get started.

He took the suit case, wheeling it behind him. It would be perfect for hulling medicine. Moving the chair and the gurney he checked the area for walkers. When none popped up he set off towards the pharmacy. Grabbing anything that sounded useful. He did stab one wandering walker but other than that he was left alone. Not that he let his guard down for anything. In the end he swept as much as he could into the suit case and zipped it up. After that he went to the doctor’s station where he found a duffle someone had left. He dumped its contents, apparently it was someone’s gym bag. Then stuffed it with as much medical equipment as he could get his hands on. Stethoscopes, tung depresses, blood pressure cuff, anything. He let it hang on the handle of the suitcase.

Deciding not to press his luck Rick made his way out of the hospital. The rattle of the door warning “don’t open dead inside” made his steps quicken. This time he checked the hummer and cheered at finding it still had keys in it and gas in the tank. Shit how had he made it all the way home on that little bicycle? Again he attributed it to adrenaline and luck. Maybe a minor miracle.

Pulling up to the house was still eerie, but he had grown used to places being like that. Inside was chaos. Except for Carl’s room. His son had been packed even before he’d been shot. Ready to leave in a moment’s notice. With the advanced warning he’d been able to pack not just cloths but also books, comics, and a deck of cards. Looking around revealed that Lori had still not quite finished packing. Darn woman. If she died it meant no Judy. Rick wasn’t sure he could live with that. Hell if she weren’t born Daryl would skin him alive.

Other things were gone though that hadn’t been last time. Like the big cooking pot he had told Carl to grab along with many of the non-perishable foods. Including the fifty pound bag of rice that Lori had thrown a fit over him buying. Wondering when they would ever eat so much rice. He had wanted to buy more.

Rick went threw the house gathering up everything he knew they would need and anything that could be useful. He shoved everything into garbage bags. Not bothering with keeping any semblance of order, just grouping like items together. Then putting it in the hummer.

Grudgingly he packed Lori’s suitcase with her things. He decided to pick threw her nightstand to see if she’d left anything. The thick stack of papers that got caught on the drawer surprised him. When he got them pulled out Rick felt all the energy leave him. Rick sat heavily on their bed as he read threw the pages.

“That bitch,” he cussed. Lori had drawn up papers for their divorce. The papers stated that they had been drawn up before the coma. What put energy back into him was seeing that Lori had signed and dated them a day after he had been shot. Angrily he pulled out a pen, signing his own name on everything but the custody agreement. That he hadn’t bothered to read the first time threw. Too angry at his ‘wife’ to even look at the custody page. When he did though he swore again.

“Fuck no! I ain’t about to let her have full custody,” Rick shoved the papers into his back pocket. Those weren’t going anywhere but with his stuff. Grabbing his own cloths he shoved them into a garbage bag. Everyone would wind up wearing each other’s stuff anyway. That thought made him think of curling up in Daryl’s poncho. Shaking that memory off Rick dragged the last of the bags to the hummer.

Before turning and heading strait back to the bathroom with one more bag. He shoved any feminine products he could find into the bag. That ought to earn him some points with the women of the camp. Help prove he could provide and that he didn’t shy from doing what needed to be done.

One house down a street to go. He had cleared out more five houses before noon. Finally feeling exhaustion creep into him he decided it was time for a break before finding Morgan. That’s when he saw the walker. The same one he’d nearly gotten himself bit by right before meeting Morgan and his son. Pulling out his knife he stabbed it in the head with a move that was more muscle memory from years of doing the same to other walkers, than purposeful act.

Turning he found a stunned Duane. The boy stared at him with wide eyes that flickered to the walker he’d just brought down.

“Easy there,” Rick raised his hands up in surrender, “I’m police officer. It’s okay I’m not going to hurt you. Where are your folks?”

If anyone asked he would blame not hearing Morgan swing the shovel on his gunshot wound putting him off his game. Rick found himself on his ass with his nose bleeding. Spots danced before his eyes. He blinked up at Morgan.

“What was that for?” Rick demanded. Morgan winced before covering it.

“Sorry, thought you were one of the walkers,” Morgan apologized as he helped Rick to his feet.

“Do I look like one of the walking dead?” Rick demanded.

“Kind of,” Duane muttered.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like death warmed over,” Morgan said running a critical eye over him.

“Yea well I just woke up from a coma. I got shot in the line of duty before all this. Woke up in a hospital crawling with the dead,” Rick gestured to where his wound was. Morgan hmm-ed.

“It’s getting late. We should get inside. You can join us, but I’m going to have to check that wound. Can’t have you staying if you’re bit,” Morgan said.

“Sure, just let me grab the keys to my ride. Do you guys have stuff for dinner? I’ve just spent most of the day cleaning out my house and five others,” Rick offered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merle an Uncle? Psh, yea right.

Daryl was trying to think. Good news, his husband and son remembered. Bad news, now he had to tell his brother that not only was he gay, he was more or less married to a cop. And a cop himself. Shit.

He wasn’t normally one to use guilt against someone but he considered showing his brother the scars. No. He’d get through this without showing those to anyone but Rick. The thought made his stomach ache. When they found time and space, which had gotten rarer as the years went on, Rick would kiss those scars. He’d whisper in Daryl’s ear. How beautiful he was, which never made sense to him because he wasn’t handsome let alone beautiful. Still the words made him blush every time.

Daryl shook the thoughts of Rick from his head. He did not need to make his up coming conversation with Merle anymore embarrassing. He also didn’t need the distraction right now. He and Carl had gone out hunting for the past several days. Leaving for hours at a time. Lori glared every time he showed up at their tent. Shane didn’t glare, but he did keep a weary eye on Daryl’s every move while he was in camp.

Merle, well he did what he always did. Spit abuses and complain when Daryl took off with Carl. Today he had stopped them before they could get far from camp. Had demanded to know why his little brother was playing babysitter. Carl had wisely stayed silent, those his eye roll spoke volumes about what he thought of Merle’s behavior. Which continued to get more erratic the longer he went without his medication.

Daryl had taken a deep breath. Reminded himself that his brother was suffering from the symptoms of withdrawal and PTSD. Instead of telling Merle off Daryl had promised to explain after his and Carl’s hunting trip. Which was drawing to a close now that they’d gotten a couple of rabbits out of the snares.

“Darlena! Where have you been?” Merle stopped them just outside of the camp again.

“Gettin’ dinner,” Carl held up one of the rabbits. Daryl could have sworn he was looking at a mirror of his own face. Carl might not look anything like him, but the kid had picked up on his facial expressions.

Merle snorted at the skinny rabbit. His eyes darted back and forth between Carl and Daryl. Seeming to realize that they had the same facial expression.

Daryl sighed, “Merle, this is Carl. I’ve known him and his dad, Rick, for a while now,”

“How long’s a while?” Merle crossed his arms. Daryl tilted his head as if he was thinking.

“A while,” he smirked. Carl snorted.

“And Dad wonders where I get my sass from,” the boy muttered. Merle heard it though and scowled in confusion.

“Carl this is my brother Merle,” Daryl cut in before questions could be asked.

“Hi Uncle Merle,” Carl gave a sarcastic wave of his hand. Daryl didn’t care what Rick said, he was not nearly that saucy. The kid couldn’t have picked it up from him. It must have been a recessive gene that skips a generation. Or maybe just Carl being Carl.

“Uncle? You having a go a queenie’s pussy too?” Merle gave a lecherous smile. Daryl felt the beginnings of a headache.

“One, don’t ever talk about the kid’s mom like that again,” Daryl growled and was about to continue but Carl beat him to it.

“Second ew~” Carl pretended to shiver in revulsion at the idea. There Daryl could agree. Women just weren’t appealing on any level. A woman like Lori even less so. Course the kid would have said the same thing about him and Rick. Little punk was just trying to be annoying.

“So why the uncle bit? I ain’t no body’s uncle,” Merle questioned.

“Cause Daryl and Dad-“ Carl was cut off by Daryl’s hand over his mouth. Too late. The gears in Merle’s head were turning.

“Carl take the rabbits into camp,” Daryl handed over the rabbits he’d been carrying. Carl pouted but did as he was told. He watched until his son was safely back into the camp. Then he turned to his brother again.

“What was the boy saying about you and his Daddy?” Merle asked his tone cold. Daryl looked back towards camp. He really didn’t want to have this conversation.

“Is there something going on that I should know about Darlena?” Merle took a step closer.

“Rick’s my friend, my best friend,” he tried to brush it off. Something twisted inside of him. He’d never lied about his relationship with Rick before. It made him feel sick.

“I ain’t buying that pile o’ crap,” Merle poked him in the chest. Daryl glared. To hell with this. To hell with Merle. He’d found himself a family, a real family. He wasn’t going to lie anymore. Especially not to Merle. He hated to think it but he’d made it without his brother once, and yea it hurt but he had survived it twice.

“You want it all out there? Fine I’m gay!” Daryl threw up his hands. He wasn’t surprised at the punch his brother threw as soon as the words left his mouth. He let that swing hit him, but pulled back so it didn’t hurt as much.

“No brother o’ mine is gonna be some pansy ass mother fucker!” Merle swung again. This time Daryl caught the fist coming strait at him.

“How does it feel to know that yer some dirty whore, hm? Dose he give it to ya hard? Make you whine like a bitch?” Merle sneered when he realized he couldn’t get his hand free to attack.

“Shut up! God, why do you have to have such a fowl mouth?” Daryl asked trying not to let his brother’s words affect him. He’d been torture on more than one occasion. He could handle some mean words.

“And I know you had a gay guy in yer platoon. You didn’t have a problem with him, so what makes me so disgusting?” he demanded before his brother could open his mouth. He let go of Merle’s fist and stepped back.

“Yer my baby brother, yer not supposed to be-be-“

“Gay? Well I am so get over it, I did,” Daryl said. It had taken him a long time to be comfortable in his own skin. It had taken a lot of pent up sexual frustration for him to hook up with his first guy. Afterwords he’d struggled. Continued to struggle with who he was until he’d found Rick. Found a real family that accepted and loved him. Even if he and Rick had never gotten together he would have always had his family.

“But what about those women I hooked you up with?”

“Nothing happened. We usually just talked while you were getting high or drunk,” Daryl shrugged.

“I paid good money for those girls to fuck you!” Merle said indignant. Daryl rolled his eyes.

They stood there for a long while.

“So yer messing around with a married man? That ain’t smart little brother,” Merle finally spoke. Daryl stared in shock. That had been a lot easier to deal with than he thought it would be.

“We ain’t together. Just friends. ‘Magine that might change when Rick gets back and find Lori moved on so quick,” Daryl scratched at the back of his neck.

“Married ones don’t leave their wives,” Merle shook his head as if he was disappointed.

“Even if the wife is cheating?” Daryl pointed out.

“She thinks he’s dead. Could be yer fella forgives her,”

“She was cheating long before now. With another man. Carl saw them,” Daryl confessed.

“World’s changed,” Merle grunted.

“Rick hasn’t,” Daryl’s mouth quirked into a lopsided smile.

“Ya really like ‘im don't cha,” Merle ran a critical eye over him. Daryl didn’t deny it. He also didn’t elaborate on his feelings.

“And yer sure he ain’t dead like ol’ Shane says?” Merle asked.

“Not a chance. Swear if that gardener don’t show up by the time I get back from that run I’m goin' after him myself,” Daryl chuckled.

“We good?” Daryl asked.

“Just don’t do any of that kissin’ or fuckin’ where I can see ya and we’ll be good,” Merle started back towards camp. Daryl snorted as he walked past his brother.

“And none of that cutesy couple-y stuff neither!” Merle called after him. Daryl felt himself relax. He had never imagined it being this easy telling his brother about his sexuality or his first real relationship. He felt lighter than he had in days. Things were starting to look up already.

Now he just needed Rick to get his ass back to their family. And for Judy to show up in about nine months. Then Daryl Dixon would be a truly happy man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to give a shout out to anyone who's ever come out of the closet. You are all so brave. I have a little sister who's an ace. I was so proud that she had the courage to tell me and the rest of our family. Lots of Love to everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so Michonne’s Mike and Terry are actually the ones from the comic. Simply because I like them both a lot better and it lends more to this story.

  
They had gathered in the home of one of Rick’s dead neighbors. The same one as last time. Morgan checked him over. Hemming and hawing as he inspected the wound.

“What did you do before all of this?” Rick found himself asking. Realizing that even after they’d met again he never found out.

“I was an ER doctor at a hospital a few towns over,” Morgan said. Rick stared at him. Well, apparently being more prepared moved the luck down the time line. Now he _had_ to get Morgan to come with him. He could save some of their people. Gosh Judy’s birth would go so much smoother.

“My wife had family in Atlanta, it’s where we were heading..” Morgan explained what had happened to his wife just before she showed up. Rick had been debating on how best to get Morgan to come with him. The man wouldn’t leave without ending his wife, but that would get Duane killed. He couldn’t let that happen. He wasn’t sure if he should just take care of business or offer though.

“She’s a threat to your son,” Rick finally settled on.

“Naw, I mean no more than another of those things,” Morgan stumbled.

“True, but those you could kill without a second thought. What happens when she grabs hold of Duane? Could you shoot your own wife?” Rick asked. Morgan looked pained. He couldn’t blame the man. He remembered how he felt, how he went mad, when Lori died. Thank god for Daryl Dixon.

“I could do it for you. No one should have to put down their own family,” Rick offered. Either way he was going to do it. He was relieved when Morgan nodded his head in consent. He squeezed the other man’s shoulder before making his way to the door. He waited until she wandered to the other side of the porch before creeping out. He wasn’t silent like Daryl, but Rick liked to think he’d gotten better at not making much noise when he wanted. He stuck a knife in her temple before she even knew what had happened. He heard Morgan let out a strangled sound. Like the air had been punched out of him.

Noticing a few more walkers in the area who hadn’t taken notice Rick slipped back into the house. Inside Morgan and Duane held each other as they cried. Rick left them to it. He started fixing dinner of canned chicken meat, canned vegetables, and some chicken broth. He remembered how that kind of grief left a person not hungry. At least until the smell of cooking food or that first bite made one realize they were starving. As he predicted the smell of food drew the father and son pair out.

“Thank you,” Morgan said. The double meaning was not lost on Rick.

“No problem. This will be ready in a minute,” he said as they took their seats.

“You mentioned that one of those houses is yours. Got a family or…?” Morgan asked. Rick chuckled.

“Me and Lori were high school sweethearts, married right before I started training at the academy. Had our son Carl, who’s about the same age as Duane, not long after. Pretty sure they’re alive,” he said between bites of hot soup.

“How you figure?” Morgan asked bringing over three bowls.

“The pictures were gone,” Rick smiled a little. He had been given so much hope by that small detail last time. Hope that his family were still alive. Hope he’d be able to find them. Shit he’d been high on hope. High to the point of stupidity. Even if Atlanta hadn’t been overrun he never would have found them in the sea of refugees. Finding them had been nothing but luck, and another miracle.

Not this time though. This time he had certainty, despite knowing how uncertain their world was once again. He knew where to go and how to find his family this time. He was over the moon at the thought of finding Carl. Knowing that his son was safe with his other father. Even if Daryl didn’t remember, the hunter would keep Carl safe. He was a good man. Despite his every effort not to appear as a good man. There wasn’t enough coal in the world to cover up the diamond shinning through.

“My wife did the same thing. I’m packing cloths, she grabbed the photo albums,” Morgan chuckled, “You don’t seem all that happy though.”

Rick pulled out the divorce papers that were still tucked into his back pocket.

“They left in a hurry, she didn’t take much. Thought I’d pack her stuff for her. I found these while trying to check to make sure she hadn’t left something in her nightstand,” Rick said.

“Shit, sorry about that man,” Morgan said as he handed the papers back.

“It gets worse,” Rick groused. He needed to vent and normally he’d go to Daryl or start working on something that needed doing. He found that talking to someone helped his sanity. Which he needed to hold onto this time around.

“How?” Morgan asked incredulously as he scooped a large portion of soup in his mouth.

“She drew them up before the coma. Guess she got tired of being a cop’s wife. Got tired of me risking my life for others. Wondering if I was going to die every time I walked out the darn door,” Rick snorted. Well joke was on her, now that was everyone’s reality. Which gave him pause.

If Lori hadn’t liked being a cop’s wife, why had she hooked up with Shane? He took a steadying breath. He had done a lot of questioning when he’d woken up in the past. Asked himself a lot of hard questions about the choices he and others had made. He had purposefully not looked too close at Lori and Shane. From the moment he woke up on two things concerning them.

One, he was going to try to save Shane, even if it meant Judy had a third father in the mix. The man had been his best friend his entire life and his partner almost the entirety of his job. He felt bad about how things played out last time. Two, he would happily give Lori up to Shane.

“Seriously? You were protecting your community. Keeping her and your boy safe,” Morgan shook his head.

Rick began wondering if Shane and Lori had been telling the truth about their affair only happening after they though he was dead. It didn't excuse them from carrying on after he was back, but it made something in Rick loosen. He could forgive them, he knew that now. Or, maybe not, something still didn’t sit right with him.

This time he hadn’t been blind. He hadn’t ignored their problems. He saw them for what they were. Lack of communication. Lack of honesty about what they wanted and expected. Last time Rick had been content, he’d reached his major life goals. This time he realized that Lori’s goals had been different. She’d wanted more. More vacations to different places. A bigger house. More things. More money. It irritated him, especially after having lived without any of those things for most of his life. None of that explained the sense of wrongness. The possibility that he had missed something when analyzing their relationship.

“Of course she didn’t sign them until the day after I landed in a coma,” Rick said before taking an angry bite of his dinner. He was still pissed. Was he still in love with Lori? No. He’d also had plenty of time to process and get over..everything. Her cheating on him with Shane. The idea that Judith probably wasn’t his. Lori’s death. All of it. This hurt was new. Gosh, how different things would have turned out if Rick had only found those sooner. Of course that Rick Grimes would have continued to try repairing their marriage. Thank god he wasn’t that naive anymore.

“Now that’s just low,” Morgan was starting to sound angry on Rick’s behalf.

“I can’t really blame her. We were on rocky footing for a while. I had started looking for a family councilor. Guess she had just given up hope,” Rick shrugged. It was true-ish. He had started looking for a councilor, but one to help them threw a divorce. Neither he nor Carl were sure if the apocalypse would even happen. They figured they might as well hope for the best and prepare for the worse. Which was which was anybody’s guess. Part of that for Rick was getting divorced so he could marry Daryl, when he found him. If he even remembered.

“Still why’d she go and kick a man, a hero from the sounds of it, when you were down. It sounds like you were willing to at least try. What are you going to do when you find her? I know how disasters can make people act, but I hope you don’t just forgive her,” Morgan looked like a disapproving father warning his kid off of something dangerous and stupid. No worries there.

“Oh, that’s not going to happen,” after all Rick had Daryl, “not after what she wanted our custody agreement to be,”

“What did she want?” Morgan leaned closer. Rick waited for him to take another big bite before answering.

“Full custody, with limited, _supervised_ visits,” Rick spat. It made his blood boil. Morgan chocked on his food. Duane had to slap his back a few times before he stopped coughing.

“That bitch,” Morgan said when he could talk without coughing.

“That’s what I said! I would’ve let her have everything. House, car, our possessions. Hell I’d pay alimony without complaint and on time. But to try and take away Carl? No, I would have fought her tooth and nail,” Rick shook his head. Funny, he had wound up fighting for Carl up until the young man left a year before they all died. A judge didn’t even sound intimidating after the things they’d been through.

“I’d paid to see that reunion,” Morgan snorted.

“Why don’t you guys come with me? I’m pretty sure Shane would take my family to the safe zones in Atlanta,” Rick pitched.

“It’s better than staying here,” Duane spoke up, his eyes drifting towards the room where his mom had died.

“You need someone to look after that wound in your side anyway. Can’t have your ex-wife get away with what she was going to try pulling on ya. Means you have to stay alive. Besides, I figure we owe you that much. After that, who knows,” Morgan shrugged. Rick beamed, sticking out his hand to shake. He was positive that once they reached the group Morgan would choose to stay.

__________________________________________________

The next morning they cleared a few more houses out. They siphoned some gas from the neighboring cars into the hummer and two extra fuel tanks. When Rick was satisfied they headed to the station. The hot water felt heavenly. Rick wasn’t sure he remembered the last time they’d had hot water. Was it Alexandria? He dunked his head under the warm spray and stopped caring. After that Morgan tended his wound again. Much to Rick’s annoyance. It had been fine last time. Of course that was a testament to his luck that he hadn’t gotten infected. That he hadn’t passed out somewhere from pain and exhaustion and woken up to find a walker munching on him was a fucking miracle.

They spent the day practicing with the guns. Rick also took the time to teach both of them how to use a knife. He added wisdom about using unconventional weapons. So long as it could break the skull of a walker they were good.

It was noon before they were ready to leave. They siphoned the gas from the hummer into Rick and Shane’s patrol car. It would get better gas millage despite the loss in security that the hummer provided. Rick double checked that they would have enough to get them to the quarry and a little further.

The trip seemed a lot slower, a lot calmer, this time around. It should have gone by faster. After all the first time he had been riding a horse. Gosh he’d been stupid. Riding into Atlanta like the new sheriff come into town to clean up the lawless west. Getting that poor horse eaten and his sorry butt stuck in that tank. Rick winced realizing the horse would likely starve. Shaking his head Rick pulled his thoughts back as he realized how they had devolved.

The trip might have also seemed longer because Morgan kept insisting that they stop. That Rick rest. That they treat his bullet wound.

“If I knew what a mother hen you were, I’d of left you back in King County,” Rick had protested. The trip also seemed longer because he kept stopping to gather more supplies. Mostly food and gas, but he also took whatever cloths and medicine he could find in the stores and gas stations along the way.

In the end it wound up taking the same amount of time, give or take a few hours. They stopped when the traffic jam was within sight. He berated himself again for not noticing how everyone was trying to leave the city instead of enter. Atlanta wasn’t that far away. Rick was trying to figure out a way to get them to the quarry without tipping off Morgan. He thought about offering to scout ahead, but realized that Morgan wasn’t likely to just let his patient go into danger alone. Rick had convinced them to stop for lunch. He was just about to make his scouting pitch when a voice came over the walkie-talkie.

“Hello, is anybody out there? We need help. Hello?” Glenn’s voice called over the static. Rick lunged for the walkie.

“Where are you? What happened?” Rick asked. He tried to ignore Morgan’s disapproving glare. In many ways the man made him feel like a teenager again, being stared down by his father.

“Oh thank god. We’re in the shopping center on Trinity Ave. Got trapped by a bunch of geeks,” Glenn explained.

“Shit, hang on I’m coming to help,” Rick called back.

“What? Aren’t we even going to talk about this?” Morgan protested

“I’m not about to leave somebody stranded, surrounded by walkers,” Rick said, checking to make sure he had a full gun before placing it back in it’s holster.

Another voice came over the walkie, “I’m coming too.”

Rick smiled, that sounded like Michonne. Looks like she remembered too. That was good. She had a good head on her shoulders. Memories or no.

“Look they’ve already got someone else offering,” Morgan pointed out.

“I know you’re worried, but I’ll be alright,” Rick assured him.

“Why are you don’g this?” Morgan demanded.

“I’d like to think if I were ever that far up shit creek without a paddle that someone would do the same for me,” Rick quoted Glen. Gosh it would be good to see the Korean kid.

“Fine, looks like we’re going to go into town after all,” Morgan headed towards the driver’s side before Rick grabbed his arm.

“It’ll be quicker and safer if it’s just me. We’ll have the walkie to communicate if need be,”

“I don’t like this Rick. We’ll be here, waiting for you till sun rise tomorrow,” Morgan promised. Rick shook his hand before being dragged into a hug. He winced as the movement pulled on his wound. He squeezed Duane on the shoulder before turning to look for transport. He spotted a motorcycle and filled up it’s tank with one of the extras they had. It would be a good honey I’m home present for Daryl if he remembered. If he didn’t it would be a way to get into the man’s good graces.

With a wave he set off towards his friends. Trying to talk himself out of leaving Merle on that roof. Asshole didn’t deserve to have Daryl as a brother. Still he was Daryl’s only blood relative. He couldn’t just let the man panic up on that roof and cut off his own hand.

“Alright I’m at the construction site down the street,” Rick said into the walkie once he’d gotten close enough.

“I’ll be there in a second,” Michonne answered.

“If you’re going to do something hurry up. The glass wont hold much longer,” Glenn’s voice was slightly panicked. Not a second after Glenn finished speaking Michonne ran up to Rick. Her son was strapped to her front and she had her sword out. A wicked gleam in her eye.

“Rick, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she smiled. Two men came running up behind her, slightly out of breath.

“Hey crazy sword lady,” Rick teased back.

“You two know each other,” one of the men said

“Introductions later, plan now,” Michonne cut him off. Rick agreed.

“Michonne and one of you will get that truck, drive it around the loading docks, and get everyone in. Me and the other will break car windows to set off alarms. Then jump on my bike and meet back up with you,” Rick instructed. The group nodded. Michonne and one of the guys jumped into the truck, ready to go.

“Get to the loading bay, we’re picking you guys up. Then head towards the traffic jam, I’ve got people waiting there,” Rick called into the walkie.

“Got it,” Glenn said back. With that Rick and the second guy grabbed tier irons and went to work. When the walkers started heading their way they jumped on Rick’s bike. They sped off to join Michonne and the others. When they got there T-Dog, Andrea, Morales, and Jacqui were already climbing in the back. The guy on the back of Rick’s bike jumped off and joined them, apparently he didn’t want to risk being separated from his companions. The next out of the building was Glenn followed closely by-

“Daryl!” Rick couldn’t contain his shout. If the man was here that meant he remembered. The hunter beamed as he ran over to his husband.

“Hey Bebe, scoot back. Let a real biker show you how its done,” Daryl winked at him. Rick rolled his eyes but didn’t waste a second making space for the man he thought he’d have to win back. Rick quickly wrapped his arms around Daryl’s waist, letting his hand drift up under his husband’s shirt. It sent a shiver up both their spines. The smirk Daryl sent over his shoulder made heat pool in his belly.

“Damn I missed you,” Daryl said before pulling the motorcycle ahead of the van so the others could follow. Rick was content to lay his head on Daryl’s back. He hadn’t realized how tired he was till Daryl cleared his throat to snap him out of his light nap.

“I take it the people we’re meeting are the ones you had that walkie-talkie for last time?” he asked.

“Yea, I convinced them to come along this time thank god,” Rick said.

“Good, never met Morgan before he went all crazy after loosing his kid. I’m glad your friend is alright,” Daryl called over the howling wind.

“That’s not even the best part, he’s a doctor,” Rick said, think of how much that would help them. Hershel was great, but the man was a veterinarian.

“No shit? That’ll be useful. Speaking of how is that bullet wound that knocked you into a coma?” Daryl asked.

“I’m better, in part thanks to Morgan,” Rick waved him off.

“Good, not sure how you did all this last time,” Daryl gave a small nod of approval. When they got close to where he had left his friend he tapped Daryl’s shoulder. They slowed down, as did the van behind them. The happy smile on Rick’s face became tight when he saw Morgan getting out of the cursor with a livid expression.

“Grimes get off that damn motorcycle!” the doctor yelled.

“Hey, he don’t have to do anything you say,” Daryl grabbed one of Rick’s hands possessively.

“Oh yes he does, I’m his doctor. I heard your grand plan over the walkie. You could have gotten yourself eaten alive! Or worse torn open that wound,” Morgan scolded. At that Daryl’s head swiveled in his direction. Rick kept a strait back, refusing to be cowed.

“I thought you said you were healed?” Daryl asked getting off the bike. Rick followed with a wince. Which didn’t escape either Daryl or Morgan’s attention.

“I said I was better, not healed,” he pointed out.

“God damn it. Take the shirt off, let the doc look at it,” Daryl growled and started tugging at the shirt. Morgan raised an eyebrow at the behavior, but seem to approve.

“What did the idiot do this time?” Michonne asked as she got out of the van.

“He is still recovering from the gun shot wound that put him in a coma over a month ago, and he came after us anyway,” Daryl crossed his arms disapprovingly. Rick noticed how the others had gotten out of the van too.

“You know these people?” Morgan asked looking nervously at the group.

“I know Daryl and Michonne,” Rick tried to put him at ease. The group’s focus shifted when the toddler started squealing happily.  
  
“Is that Andre?” Daryl’s whole demeanor shifted. Rick took a moment to admire the dopy smile on his husband’s face. He remembered the first time he’d scene it. He had just washed off after being in the tombs. He’d gone up to check on his kids. Only to find Daryl bouncing Judy in his arms, that same dopy smile on his face.

“It’s good to finally meet him in person. Hi kiddo,” Rick said knowing he was doing that voice he did with Judith. With Carl when he was a baby.

“This isn’t exactly how I imagined you meeting my family, but it is good to see you both alive. Now where is Carl?” she interrogated.

“He’s back at camp deciding whether to come save you first or his Dad,” Daryl said while subtlety letting Michonne know that Carl remembered.

“Carl? As in Rick’s little boy?” Morgan spoke up.

“I’ve got the darnedest luck. I run into two old friends and one of them knows where my kid is. Daryl’s been looking after Carl since they joined the group,” Rick told him as he finally extradited his finger from Andre’s grip.

“What about that ex-wife of yours?” Morgan asked.

“Are you finally getting a divorce?” Michonne said with a slightly manic smile.

“What Lori wants Lori gets. I found divorce papers when I was packing her things to bring them to her. Had them drawn up about a week before I got shot,” Rick said. He’d had time to breath and accept this new hurt Lori had inflicted on him.

“Well if the world hand’t gone to shit I’d say my offer to be your divorce lawyer free of charge still stands. Instead I can offer to cut off her head,” Michonne tapped her blade meaningfully. Rick shook his head.

“That’s not even the half of it. She signed them while he was in the coma. And the custody arrangement she wanted was the worst,” Morgan cut in.

Rick heard the rest of the group murmuring their disapproval of Lori. It made him feel more secure knowing that when he walked into camp to confront her, he would have these people on his side.

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it gets worse,” Daryl stepped up. The hunter placed a hand on his shoulder. Rick almost sagged in relief, now he wouldn’t have to pretend not to know about Lori and Shane. He could confront them both and hopefully prevent a lot of drama. Maybe even keep Shane from going crazy.

“Lori’s been shacking up with that no good partner of yours, Shane. Has been at least since I joined the group. He told Lori and Carl that you were dead,” Daryl wouldn’t look him in the eyes. Rick had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he wasn’t being told everything.

“Right when I didn’t think the woman could stoop any lower,” Morgan huffed in disbelief.

“I had a while to process the divorce. I’m sure that Shane actually thought I was dead. He wouldn’t do anything with Lori other wise. Life was too short before, now in this new world it’s even shorter. If they make each other happy then, I can be happy for them. Even if it takes awhile to get used to it,” Rick said. The group stared at him in open disbelief.

“You’re a better man than me,” Morales shook his head. The others voiced similar thoughts. Rick felt his cheeks color. He wasn’t a better man. He’d wager that he was a worse man than any of them. The life he’d lived had not been meant for nice men. It would help him ensure his group’s survival though. It would help him keep his family safe.

“Sorry Rick, that was the bad news. I haven’t said the worst part,” Daryl started chewing at his thumb. Rick reach up and slowly extradited the abused thumb from his lover’s mouth. He couldn’t imagine there being any worse news than his wife wanted a divorce and had moved on to his best friend after his supposed death. It couldn’t be anything to do with Carl. Daryl wouldn’t wait to tell him something so important.

“Carl-“

“Is he alright?” Rick cut him off. Dread sunk into every nerve. Carl should be fine. He remembered. He could protect himself. What could have-

“Stop yer panicking Carl is fine. He saw something though that upset him, but he didn’t have a chance to tell ya before you wound up in the hospital,” Daryl cut off Rick’s devolving thoughts. So long as their family was okay he could handle anything.

“Just tell me,” Rick said calmly.

“Carl saw Lori with a blond haired, blue eyed man. They were making out in a alley a few weeks before you were shot,” Daryl said.

“What?” Rick croaked. He would have been able to handle anything, but this? Blond hair and blue eyes. Daryl was saying that neither Shane nor Rick were Judith’s biological father. It was some stranger. He didn’t expect it to hurt so badly. He had known long ago that he wasn’t Judy’s father. At least the first time around he thought he had the last piece of his old friend. Only to find out that had been a lie.

Daryl wrapped his arm around Rick’s waist to help support him. Rick slumped into his side. He bit back the tears and the roar of rage that were threatening to break out of him in tandem. Michonne came around to his other side rubbing a soothing hand up and down his arm. Together they managed to get him sitting on the hood of the cruiser.

“Why don’t you let the doc look at that wound while we put our supplies in the van,” Michonne suggested.

“Your supplies?” Glenn asked.

“We’ve been gathering supplies and storing them in these cars. We were planning on going to a friend’s farm just south of here,” she explained.

“You talking about the Greene’s?” Rick croaked, pulling himself out of his mind. He couldn’t loose himself. Not like that. Not this time.

“Yeah, when the reports started coming out about the attacks Hershel called me. Invited us down. I couldn’t convince these two stubborn fools to leave until I threatened to go without them. We were planning on heading there in a few days. Thought it would be best to leave the bulk of our supplies out here just in case,” she explained.

With that the group started pulling things out of the cars. Rick, Daryl, Morgan and Duane staid by the cruiser. They had Michonne, with Andre, up on top of the van to keep watch. Rick pealed his uniform off. Daryl went to unwind the bandages only to have his hand slapped by Morgan. The hunter glared at the doctor but relented. When he saw the wound Daryl hissed before glaring at Rick. His eyes screaming, ‘you said you were better and you lied to me’

Rick was feeling exhausted by now. It had been a long day. He had gotten used to sleeping in the afternoons during their drive to Atlanta. How had he done this last time? How had he kept soldering on without succumbing to exhaustion? How was it that his mind hadn’t fractured until Lori’s death at the prison. With a creeping sense of dread he realized that he probably had suffered mental breaks before the prison. He just hadn’t realized they were happening.

“Michonne, all that’s left is the bags you got from the museum,” Mike, as he had finally introduced himself as, hollered. She quickly got off the van, careful of Andre.

“Rick, I got something that might help cheer you up,” she called.

“Uh oh, crazy sword lady has a surprise,” Rick teased.

“If the world hadn’t already ended I’d say she was plotting to take over the damn world,” Daryl drawled. Mike and Terry frowned at them. Rick didn’t know them outside of what Michonne had told him. Which wasn’t a lot. He could swear that the men were looking at him and Daryl in suspicion. They would need to explain how they all knew each other. And explain that there was nothing between them and the samurai.

Michonne led them a little further from the group and reached under the car. She dragged out three heavy looking bags. Mettle clanking inside. Before they went any further he held up a hand.

“What’s our story?” Rick asked.

“I told Lori and Shane we met when you were in Atlanta for work. Merle knows that I’m gay and that we aren’t just friends,” Daryl said.

“I didn’t think you’d be telling anyone. Specially your brother,” Rick looked him over.

“I told him we weren’t together, just that we wanted more. Not that he believes me. Keeps trying to convince me you’re leading me on or some shit,” Daryl shook his head.

“We’ll set him strait,” Rick said, knowing he could draw a chuckle out of his husband, “Besides soon as we’re back at camp I’ll be free of Lori so it doesn’t matter much.”

“Deal with your family drama later. I told Mike and Terry I met Hershel because he was a witness for a case,” Michonne said.

“Okay. All four of us were involved in this one case. You know if we play this right we can hint at some of our future enemies,” Rick suggested, getting back on point.

“That would be good. Start telling horror stories about a case and the trial,” Daryl nodded along.

“How can we say Daryl was involved?” Michonne pointed out.

“Another witness?” the hunter suggested.

“Daryl was a park ranger before all of this,” Rick said proudly. He knew Daryl didn’t tell anyone but him and the kids last time around. It had made it easy for other people to underestimate him. Which he had used to his full advantage. This time around it would be different. People would show his hunter the proper respect from the beginning.

“Rick,” Daryl whined. Rick shrugged.

“Now why didn’t I know that?” she demanded with her arms crossed.

“Because the only ones I told were Rick and the kids,” Daryl glared at him accusingly.

“Back to business. We all worked separate parts of this case, drugs, human trafficking, couple of unsolved homicides. Communicating for months. Then coming together for the trial of a few of the gang members. We spent time together outside the courthouse. Got close.”

“Sounds like we have the basics. But when did this all happen? Merle was starting a years sentence in the pin about five years ago. What were y'all doing then?” Daryl suggested.

“Five years ago I had a case to prosecute until it went Federal. Really pissed me off. Spent a lot of time working on it. In Atlanta and out,” Michonne spoke up first.

“I was in Atlanta five years ago. I remember Lori bitching at me for being gone so long for work. Pulled a lot of late shifts when I was home too.. Shane did a training program for a couple of months with SWAT at around the same time,” Rick said.

“Speaking of Shane what are you planning to do about him and Lori?” Daryl said. Michonne leaned back against one of the cars around them, gently rubbing Andre’s head as he slept on. She knew about this part but she would differ to them about what they should do.

“I already said I was going to get a divorce back there. Need to get that worked out soon as we get back. Cut all that drama off at the head. Maybe if Shane doesn’t think I’m moving in on her he won’t loose it,” Rick sighed. He wasn’t sure about anything. Let alone this. He had to try though.

“I figured you’d want to talk to him. Got Carl to convince Lori to hang out by the lake cause he didn’t want to watch the family reunions. ‘Corse Lori ain’t going to let us have no peace. What are we going to do about her?” Daryl asked.

“Need her for Judith. Won’t go without our Little Ass Kicker,” Rick smiled at Daryl. He smiled back leaning into the sheriff's space.

“Hey, save it for your tent tonight. In the mean time why don’t you boys look at what I salvaged from the museum,” Michonne said as she opened one of the bags. Inside were a collection of swords in their scabbards along with a bunch of knives. In another were bows and arrows. The last one had shields.

“Wow,” Daryl and Rick said in unison.

“I figured that since we’d run out of ammunition eventually it might be nice to start training to use these. Besides they’re a lot quieter than a gun. Though I did manage to find a bunch of those, along with a couple silencers for some of the hand guns,” Michonne bragged.

“We should call you Athena, goddess of war and wisdom,” Rick teased as he picked up a sword. It was surprisingly light in his hands. Less than five pounds if he had to guess. It was beautifully maintained. She must have cleaned the swords before stashing them. The blade was long and the hilt a simple black leather, which had been replaced recently. The guard was also a simple cross to keep the wielder’s hands from touching the blade. The only thing noticeable was the counter weight on the end. It was round and balance the sword evenly. Pressed into it on either side was a wolf’s head.

“I thought you would like that one. Simple, but no less deadly. I can teach you to use it,” she offered. Rick nodded before sheathing the sword. He slung it over his back, wincing slightly as the move irritated his wound. Michonne clucked her tung at him. She helped him take it off again.

“Not until you get a note from the doc,” she scolded, putting it back with the others.

Daryl had pulled out a bow that looked too small for him. Michonne chuckled.

“That’s supposed to be for a child. Terry picked it up by accident,” she apologized.

“I thought Carl might like his own. What do you think?” Daryl asked. Rick nodded his approval. Carl had become very proficient with Daryl’s cross bow last time. They would all feel better knowing that he had a weapon to defend himself with.

Daryl and Michonne refused to let Rick carry the bags. Sighting that he wasn’t one hundred percent. He pointed out that he’d been worse off last time. Daryl’s eye twitched when he brought that up. Rick soon found himself being herded back to the motorcycle by his hunter doing a very realistic impersonation of a sheep dog. With the bags loaded up and the group finally ready they set off towards the camp.


	6. The Long Way Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Divorces after SHTF are surprisingly more simple, though no less dramatic.

Rick held onto Daryl a little tighter than necessary as they got closer to camp. He felt anxious about being around all the people who he’d watched die. He-they wouldn’t let all these good people die like last time. Realistically they couldn’t save everyone, but they could give it their best shot. He swore to himself that if nothing else then their children and Daryl would live. He’d die before he let them perish again. He placed a kiss to the back of Daryl’s neck. He shivered at the contact, throwing a heated look over his shoulder. They would need to find a moment alone soon. Otherwise they’d end up rutting like teenagers in the back of one of the cars.

The person he wanted to start with was Shane. True they’d save others who died a lot sooner because of walkers, but Shane’s death was different. It was caused by his partner’s mental break from reality. It had broken his heart when he had killed his best friend. Rick was also scared that it could have easily been Rick who needed to be put down. If Daryl hadn’t of pulled him out he would have easily fallen into a pit of insanity. More so than he had at least. He could have been just as much of a threat as Shane had become. As he thought about this he locked eyes with Shane.

His best friend lit up like a Christmas tree at seeing him. He hadn’t recognized that renewed spark of life the last time around. Rick had been too distracted by his reunion with Carl and Lori. Rick couldn’t help but smile back. There wasn’t any sign of the madness in his eyes as far as he could tell. This was his friend. The man he’d known since he was seven. The best man at his wedding. His partner on the force. His brother. He let a breath rush out that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He would do everything he could to save this man.

Daryl gave Rick’s hand a tight squeeze before getting off of the bike. The hunter watched Shane, his shoulders hunched and his eyes narrowed. He was looking for a threat and prepared to take action if he found one in the other cop. Rick should probably talk to him later about saving Shane, Daryl wasn’t likely to talk about he was feeling about the situation if anyone else were there too. Hell they needed to talk about their plan. They had about a day until the camp would be over run.

“Shane, damn it’s good to see you brother,” Rick said opening his arms.

“Rick!” Shane ran up to hug him. Rick winced at the man’s too tight grip. He was drained from the run to Atlanta. He would need to swallow a couple of pain pills. Which could wait for later, but hopefully not too much later.

“Take it easy Officer Dick. He’s still healing,” Daryl warned. He heard Morgan snort and mutter, “Understatement of the apocalypse,”

“How? Oh God I left you! I’m so sorry,” Shane completely ignored Daryl.

“It’s okay,” Rick patted his back.

“What do you mean left ‘im?” Daryl hissed. Shane stiffened. When he pulled back from the hug Rick could see tears brimming in his eyes. Daryl continued to glare, not swayed by the other’s emotions.

“The power went out. The monitors were all off. You had some kind of attack. I listened, but didn’t hear a heart beat. The military were killing people. I-I thought you were dead. So I left,” Shane buried his face in his hands. Rick stepped forward to comfort his friend.

“Hey, easy. I don’t blame you. Besides you put that gurney in front of my door to keep people out. Not to mention the suitcase of supplies. It saved my life man,” he started rubbing soothing circles into Shane’s back. How could he not have realized what a toll leaving him had, had on his friend?

“The suitcase was Carl’s idea. Said you’d want some home comforts when you woke up. But I never should have left you,” Shane said finally pulling himself away. He ran a hand down his face. Whipping away sweat and tears.

“You had to get my family out of there. I can’t ever thank you enough for protecting my son,” Rick thanked his friend purposefully leaving a pause, “And Lori.”

Shane froze up. The color drained from his face. Rick remembered that look. He had seen it over Lori’s shoulder last time. Only this time it wasn’t mixed with jealousy. Daryl cleared his throat pointedly. Shane threw him a death glare that had the hairs on the back of Rick’s neck stand up. No one looked at his hunter like that and lived long. Rick had to take a calming breath and remind himself that Shane hadn’t lost his head, yet.

“Come on man, just tell him,” Daryl’s gruff voice slipped into that second in command, order-giving, tone.

“Stay out of this redneck,” Shane bristled.

“Hey, Daryl’s an old friend of mine. Saved my life-“

“And you saved mine,” Daryle interrupted.

“Point is, don’t talk to him like that. _Ever_ ,” Rick said, voice walking the edge of order and threat. Shane’s eyes narrowed. His gaze going back and forth between them.

“I don’t trust him, or his no good brother. How do you know them anyway?” Shane asked. Rick sighed. This wasn’t what he wanted to talk about. He needed to talk about Lori. He wondered if his friend was purposefully moving the conversation away from Lori’s affair with him. Not that Rick really considered it an affair.

“I’ve never met Merel, only know what his brother has said about him. Like I said, Daryl’s an old friend. I’ll tell you about that later. Now what’s this thing that Daryl says you need to tell me?” Rick redirected the conversation. He thought it might free his friend of some of the guilt that he only just realized had contributed to Shane’s mental decline. If he didn’t say anything though Rick would tell him that Daryl had told him already.

“I-I swear I thought you were dead,” Shane started but stopped. His face twisted in pain, guilt, and no small amount of jealousy. He must have realized what Rick being back meant for his and Lori’s relationship.

“You had every reason to believe that. You will always be my brother, no matter what. So if there is something you need to tell me, then tell me. It might take some time to forgive, but I will. So long as we’re honest with each other,” Rick reassured him. Shane looked doubtful but took a deep breath.

“I’ve been sleeping with Lori. It never would have happened if I had known you were alive. We didn’t mean to hurt you. We both missed you so much and this world is so screwed up. It just sort of happened,” Shane opened his mouth to go on but Rick stopped him.

“Sh-sh, it’s hard for me to hear. But I don’t blame you, either of you. This is going to take some time for me to get over,”

“I’m sorry,” Shane murmured.

“I forgive you, Shane. Come here brother,” Rick pulled the cop back into his arms. Something loosened in his own chest. He had eventually gotten over Lori and Shane’s affair. He had to. It was just something he’d pushed down to keep going. He’d never had this opportunity to offer forgiveness. Something, some quote, that had never made sense to him finally did. We don’t forgive others for their sake, we forgive them for our own.

“Now, was that so hard,” Daryl drawled as they pulled apart again. Shane gave Daryl a scathing look. Rick just shook his head. At least Daryl was trying to make an effort. He’d wager that it was only for Rick’s own benefit. Morgan and Michonne, on the other hand, were still giving Shane disapproving looks. It was a start at least.

“Alright, where’s Lori? I’ve got to hand her the divorce papers,” Rick rolled his eyes. He was dreading the headache that would result from that.

“I thought you didn’t blame us?” Shane asked his eyes trailing in the direction of the small water source they’d had at the camp.

“I don’t. Lori decided to file for divorce before any of this happened. I found the papers while packing up the house,” Rick said. A glance at Morgan had the man heading to the cruiser, and digging out Rick’s pack.

“You’re shitting me,” Shane stared.

“Oh that’s not even the best part,” Morgan said handing the papers off.

“Lori filed a week or so before I got shot, but didn’t sign them until the day after I was in a coma,” Rick sighed. He was getting tired of explaining everything.

“And wanted sole custody,” Morgan added.

“What?” Both Shane and Daryl shouted. Rick gave the doctor an exasperated look.

“And according to Daryl she cheated on me,” Rick added. It would be best to get this all out now. He didn’t want to make Lori look like the bad guy. She was still the mother of his children. A part of him would always love her for the two precious gifts she’d given him.

“We thought you were-“

“Not with you,” Daryl cut Shane off. Shane looked back at Rick. His head tilted in confusion.

“Carl saw her the day she filed for divorce. She was making out with a blond, blue-eyed man. He told Daryl,” Rick explained.

“I can’t believe she did that to-Oh God!” Shane looked like he’d be physically sick. Daryl raised an eyebrow at Rick. He shrugged, not knowing what was going on either.

“What’s the matter? Come on talk to us,” Rick encouraged.

“There was a man. We were trying to leave. He came up to the car. He was waving a gun around. Tried to get Lori to go with him. I thought he was trying to kidnap her. To do who knows what to her. Rick, I-“ Shane stumbled away. He then doubled over to retch. Rick slowly approached his distressed friend. Daryl right by his side. The rest of camp watching.

“Easy there partner,” Rick started rubbing up and down his back. Once he’d stopped vomiting Daryl handed him a water bottle. Shane rinsed out his mouth before taking a few long gulps.

“She told me to kill him,” Shane whispered, “I killed a man because of her. Because she asked me to.”

Rick and Daryl shared a concerned look over Shane’s bent back. They hadn’t known this the first time around. Could that have been the original stress that broke the man? If so had they already lost him? No. This new information helped them. It was just another thing they could work with Shane on. Now though Rick was thinking they needed to get Shane away from Lori too. Clearly she wasn’t good for his brother’s mental health. Which brought them to another problem, Lori.

“Hey, you didn’t know. Your only concern was getting Carl and Lori to a safe place. To protect them. It sounds like this guy was a threat at the time,” Rick soothed him as best he could.

“I remember the chaos around that time. I’m sure there were a lot of guys stealing women, hurting them. You did what you thought was right with the information you had at the time,” Daryl added. Rick was so thankful for his husband. He was having to process this information and provide comfort. Rick had always been good at processing information and inspiring others. Comfort wasn’t his forte on his best day, let alone when there was more to concentrate on.

Shane would need time. Which they didn’t have much of. If he was going to have any time to process this it would have to be tonight. Rick looked apologetically at Daryl. His hunter looked confused until Rick looked pointedly at Shane. Daryl frowned, but gave the slightest of nods. Rick returned the gesture with a grateful smile. He opened his mouth to speak but Daryl beat him to it.

“Why don’t you bed down in Merel’s tent tonight?” Daryl offered. Shane straitened back up. His hands shaking slightly.

“Where will you be sleeping?” Shane asked.

“I’ll be with Rick and Carl,” Daryl explained.

“You’re sleeping in Rick’s tent?” Shane asked his eyes narrowed at the hunter.

“Course he is,” Rick confirmed, his arm slipping around Daryl’s waist. He wasn’t about to let anyone say otherwise. Not even Shane. His partner just nodded. Choosing to go along with what was happening instead of putting up a fight. Shane could use the time to reconnect with himself. He also needed a night away from Lori.

“Sounds good,”

“Good, cause yer helping us pitch the tent,” Daryl chuckled, pulling out a smile from Shane too. The three made their way back to the group by the trucks.

“Can we start unloading now or…?” Michonne asked.

“Better hold off, don’t want to miss the fireworks,” Daryl joked, nodding to where Lori had come up over the hill. Rick felt Shane go stiff next to him. Tension rose from the group as Lori caught sight of him.

“Rick?” she called out before rushing forward. Rick opened his arms to accept her hug. Daryl ground his jaw and clenched his fists. Rick found himself grateful for all of the excuses to end his relationship with Lori. He couldn’t wait to get Daryl alone. Not that it would happen with Carl staying with them. It we even less likely that they’d get a moment alone now that they’d decided to babysit Shane.

“Lori,” Rick said shifting back when the hug became uncomfortable for him. Lori was miffed at this. Her eyes looked him up and down.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” She leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips. Rick turned his head so she kissed his cheek instead.

“Rick, what’s the matter?” Lori asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion. She glanced over at Shane. Something about what she saw made her tense up.

“Lori, we need to talk,” Rick tried to ease into the conversation.

“Rick, whatever Shane is saying he’s a lier. He lied to me and Carl. Told us you were dead,” Lori said before turning to his friend, “How could you lie like that!”

Shane looked away.

“Shane did nothing wrong. He thought I was dead. He didn’t lie. I don’t blame him, or you, for your relationship-“

“Which never would have happened if he hadn’t lied about you being dead,” Lori glared at Shane.

“Lori, I found these when I was packing your stuff for you,” Rick said waving the thick pack of legal papers in front of her. Lori paled. Her eyes followed every movement of the papers.

“Rick, sweetie, where did you get those?” she asked with a tight smile. She had never called him sweetie in all the years they’d been together.

“I found them in your nightstand. Not exactly the best hiding spot,” Rick said, letting a bit of venom seep into his voice. He might have gotten over what happened the first time around. He was still angry and hurt by the additional information he had this time though.

“It was a moment of weakness. You were laying in a coma. The doctors weren’t even sure you’d wake up!” she pleaded. Daryl snorted, attracting her glare.

“Stay out of this trailer trash,”

“Hey, watch what you say about my friends,”

“Since when have you been friends with scum-“

“Five years. So back off. I think you’re forgetting that you filed for divorce a week before I was even shot,” Rick said cooly. He was starting to get a headache. He just wanted to see his son. Get their sleeping arrangements settled. And curl up next to the love of his life. Okay maybe he wanted to do more than cuddle.

“But I didn’t send them in. I realized my mistake. Can’t you forgive a simple mistake?” Lori tried to sooth. She didn’t even have the decency to admit to it.

“And what about the man our son saw you with on the same day you filed for divorce?” Rick accused.

“What-what man?” Lori asked the blood draining from her face.

“The one you were sucking face with,” Daryl drawled. During the corse of the discussion, which was feeling more like an argument, he had drifted closer to Rick. Now their hands were just barely brushing.

“The one you asked, no told me to shoot!” Shane glared at her.

“They’re lying. Rick I swear they’re in this together. Making up all these lies. You two should be ashamed of yourselves-“

“Carl’s the one who told me about your cheating,” Daryl said, moving his hand to the small of Rick’s back. Rick sagged into the hand. He hadn’t realized how tense he’d gotten talking to Lori. Confronting Shane hadn’t felt nearly as stressful.

“Then Carl must have been confused. He’s so young. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. He should have been in school at that time anyway,” she said. Rick stared at her. She might have been a lot of things, but Lori had never been stupid. Was she so desperate to keep her seat of power that she would admit to one offense but not the other? She had to see the already shifting power dynamic. The people from the run turned to Rick instinctually because he had saved them. Which drew in their allies from within the camp.

“I skipped,” Carl spoke up. Rick felt relief flood threw him at the sight of his son. Carl quickly rushed over to hug him. Rick swung the boy up into his arms. Daryl moved the hand that had been on Rick’s back over to Carl’s shoulder.

“And I wasn’t confused. He was the same guy you had Shane kill when we were heading to Atlanta,” Carl said after he had settled down. Rick’s heart sank. How could he have not known about this? Carl should have told him. Then again he had been so young at the time and the world had gone to shit. Perhaps he had repressed it? Maybe it had happened last time, but Carl hadn’t witnessed it. He was older, more experienced now. He wouldn’t know anything for sure until they talked. Which wouldn’t happen until later.

“Lori I signed the divorce papers, except for the custody arrangement. Which by the way, full custody with limited, supervised visits, was a shit arrangement to try to push on me. We are as divorced as we can be from this moment on. I’ll protect you the same as anyone else in this group. I’ll protect Carl and raise him. You can do what you like Lori, but you and me are through,” Rick said. It felt amazing to say the words.

“Wait, no. Please Rick, think about this. Think about us. I love you,” Lori’s eyes welled up with tears.

“You’ve not loved me for a long time,” Rick walked past her.

“Rick! Get back here we are not threw discussing this!” Lori screamed.

“Sh, do you want every walker in Atlanta to hear you?” Daryl asked. He quickly plucked Carl from Rick’s arms. The move reminded him of Judith. Rick would have normally kissed his cheek but had to settle on a nod instead. They needed to give the camp a few days to settle after all the bombshells they’d just dropped. Everyone was staring at them.

“Are you going to let that criminal talk to your wife that way?” Lori accused.

“For your information Daryl is not a criminal, in fact he’s a park ranger,” Rick rounded on her, ”And you aren’t my wife. Not anymore.”

With that the tears vanished.

“Obviously you’re still recovering from your wounds. Probably took a blow to the head while traveling too. I’ll let you sleep to clear your head. But you’ll come back to me by tomorrow,” She turned on her heel and stomped to what he’d guess was her tent.

“So, where should we set up?” Rick asked Daryl.

“Grab your stuff and follow me,” the hunter instructed. Shane grabbed their tent from a suspicious Morgan. Morgan and Michonne each carried their tents. Though Michonne’s men tried to get her to let them carry it. She had told them that it was only fair seeing as how they were going to be the ones setting the tent up.

Daryl led them to a slightly elevated part of camp. They had a bunch of thick underbrush to their backs which no one would be able to get threw without creating a lot of noise. If they got threw at all. It was a lot more defensible than where everyone else was set up.

“Tried to get the others to do the same, but they wouldn’t listen,” Daryl shrugged. Shane ducked his head at that, but didn’t apologize. Soon the tents were set up. Rick, Carl, and Daryl in one. Theirs was to the left of Merel’s tent. Morgan and Duane set theirs up to their left. Michonne and her family place theirs across from Rick’s.

Once that was done Carl and Duane ran off to play with Sophia and the Morales kids. Rick was more than willing to let them. He smirked as he saw Daryl press a pair of knives into Carl’s hand. They both remembered the kids screaming after running across the Walker as it munched on a dear the hunter had intended to make their dinner. They told the kids to stay insight of an adult at all times. Adding that if they herd anything that they were to go to the RV.

With the kids out of the way Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Morgan turned to each other to discuss business. Shane and Michonne’s men looked confused about the impromptu meeting. They remained though. Rick was glad because having Shane involved with the discussion would help get the rest of the camp on board.

“We’re in a lot more trouble than I thought,” Minchonne voiced. Rick gave her a pleading look. It wasn’t their family’s fault that they were so unprepared. They hadn’t faced any of the trials that had made them into the surviving force that they would one day become.

“She’s right, there’s no clear perimeter. Only the old guy is on a consistent watch from what I can tell. They don’t even have those perimeter warning cans that you set up when we were on the road,” Morgan warned.

“His name is Dale, and he’s old so he can’t do much. Having him up on his RV with binoculars and gun is the best for everyone,” Shane argued.

“Yeah, but what are the odds of him firing that gun?” Mike asked.

“We’ve all killed walkers,” Shane protested.

“How do you know?” Morgan asked. Shane opened his mouth to answer. It hung there in the air with no sound coming out. He tilted his head, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to recall how he knew that information.

“I don't doubt that Dale can kill a walker. It’s people I’m worried about,” Michonne insisted, keeping them on the current topic. Rick agreed. Their group had gotten so proficient at dispatching the walking dead that as long as they weren’t in a big herd they weren’t much of a threat. It was the people: The Governor, Claimers, Terminus, Wolves, the Saviors, fucking Negan. The people were the ones who left scars. Walkers were almost a natural part of life and death. Somewhere between an incurable disease and a freak car accident. When people were the cause for others’ deaths it was like the old world’s murders.

“What about the rest of the camp? I saw two people pull out a can of food each. They both only ate about half. There’s no system for rationing,” Terry brought up.

“And the chores. It looks like the women get all the work while the men play guard or poke the fire,” Michonne rolled her eyes.

“Only ones who seem to do anything useful are Daryl and that Asian kid, Glenn,” Morgan added.

“Hey!” Shane protested. Rick placed a hand on his chest to stop him from picking a fight with the other man.

“They’re right. A little harsh, but right,” Rick warned. Shane all but pouted as he sulked.

“What ‘bout the biggest damn elephant outside the Atlanta Zoo?” Daryl finally spoke up. The group looked at each other to see if they knew what the hunter was talking about. They all looked back at him in confusion.

“This place isn’t safe,” Rick finally answered. Daryl’s tight muscles seemed to relax and tighten even more at the same time.

“What do you mean not safe?” Shane turned dark eyes back and forth between Daryl and Rick.

“What happens when predators eat all the prey in a given area?” Daryl asked.

“They die off?” Shane guessed. He had never been the hunting kind.

“They move on to find food,” Morgan’s face drained even as he said it.

“We need to get to Hershel’s farm,” Michonne said.

“Who’s that?” Shane asked.

“Another old friend. He invited Michonne and her family to their farm when things started going belly up,”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the group. Especially with Rick and Daryl there,” Michonne offered.

“They won’t be able to support us. Not in these numbers,” Daryl pointed out.

“Not long term, but if we go there we can gather supplies and plan our next move. I don’t want to be here longer than we have to,” Rick’s eyes darted around the woods as he spoke. He noticed Daryl shiver at the memories. Michonne’s eyes narrowed. She hadn’t been here, but she’d heard stories.

“We haven’t had any trouble with walkers. They’re stupid. Do you really think they’ll up and leave the city? Do you think they are even capable of that?” Shane argued.

“Yes,” Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and, surprisingly, Morgan said at the same time.

“This group isn’t going to want to move. People are comfortable here. Most have been here since the whole thing started,” Shane explained.

“Then we’ll do our best to prepare. Mike take Andre tomorrow and ask people what they did before all of this. We need to know what we are working with,” Rick said.

“Why take Andre?” Mike asked.

“Because the baby makes you seem less threatening, more approachable. Besides Michonne will be busy tomorrow,” Rick explained. He’d found that a lot of reluctance and fear people experienced when asked to do something went away if he explained some of the basic reasoning behind it.

“Morgan I want you to set up first aid training. I want every abled body person going to that. There’s no telling what could happen in the future,” Rick reasoned.

“And the rest of us?” Shane asked. Daryl raised an eyebrow right along with him. Begrudgingly agreeing with the cop that they needed to be doing something too.

“Michonne, Daryl, Shane, and I will be working on combat and survival skills,” Rick explained, “We’ll have several small groups. That way everyone will learn the same things. We’ll be able to see who succeeds and fails where, and then work with them,”

“It sounds like you have this all figured out,” Shane stared at Rick. He sighed, shaking his head. In truth he had nothing figured out. Outside of getting to the farm and then to the prison, he wasn’t sure what to do.

The prison wasn’t the end all be all. Not with Woodbury so close. Yet, it might be safer than Alexandria if they could nip the Governor in the bud. Not going to the walled town would mean leaving family behind though. It was a given that they would try to save everyone they could. What about the ones like Ed though? Like that kid they’d held hostage on the farm? What should they do about them? He needed to talk to the others who’d returned.

“I’m just trying to build a foundation,” Rick shrugged.

“Think we could do all that and get out of here by tomorrow night?” Daryl asked, his index finger tapped his thigh once. Only Rick and Michonne would catch the tell. Their hunter didn’t want to be here for the massacre tomorrow. Neither did Rick, but that was also the best time to get rid of Ed. They really needed to talk.

“Naw, it’d take all day to really pack the place up. Besides we still have to convince the rest of them,” Shane shook his head.

“Then we need a perimeter and guard shifts,” Michonne said.

“Me and Daryl can help you with the perimeter,” Rick offered, knowing it would be the perfect opportunity for them to talk.

“I know everyone, I can make a guard rotation and convince people to take shifts,” Shane offered. Rick gave his shoulder a squeeze to show his approval.

“Morgan, Mike, Terry could you go threw the supplies we brought in and what’s already here in the camp? We need to know what we have and then set up a rationing system. Start putting together go-bags and emergency medical supplies for each member of the camp. Also put aside some supplies. I have a feeling that not everyone will want to go to the farm,” Rick instructed.

“And where exactly would they want to go? Not that I have a problem with people leaving, the fewer morons to babysit the better,” Morgan questioned.

“Hey,” Shane protested. Rick rolled his eyes knowing the doctor was poking fun at him, not Shane or the others.

“Some will want to go look for their families,” Daryl spoke up before either man could do something stupid.

“The CDC isn’t far from here, neither is Fort Benning. Most are going to assume that the government is still standing,” Rick supplied.

“And we aren’t assuming that because…?” Shane asked, the mention of Fort Benning must have been tempting. Just like last time.

“You’re a cop, you tell us,” Daryl’s mirthless smirk cracked at his chapped lips.

“When’s the last time you put some chapstick on those lips?” Rick let slip. He blamed the chest wound. It must have highjacked his tung.

“Why are you staring at my lips, Officer Friendly?” Daryl’s humor, life, and no small amount of seductiveness seeped into that smirk. Rick rolled his eyes at the return of that nickname. Michonne laughed.

“You boys never change,” she teased, “one acts like an old nanny goat and the other responds by flirting and batting his eyes.

“Do not” Rick and Daryl said together. They say, or at least people used to say, that the longer a couple were together the more they started looking the same. Rick wasn’t sure about that, but he knew that they gave the sword-woman the exact same glare. Shane frowned, but the others in the meeting all laughed.

“Hey, grab Glen and Carol to help with the supplies,” Daryl added once the laughter died down.

“We’re loosing day light,” Rick said to dismiss them. Michonne handed Andre to the two men. She rubbed her back in the absence of his wight. The two men cooed over the toddler as they went off with Morgan.

“I’ll come join you at the perimeter when I’m done assigning guard duties,” Shane offered

“Naw you’ve done enough brother,”

“The kids could use a watcher though,” Daryl suggested, “don’t want any of ‘em caught out on their own.”

“Sure thing,” Shane’s eyes were tight. Rick could only guess that he was feeling left out. He needed to avoid doing that this time around. At the same time Rick and the others needed to talk. Well him and the others minus Carl-thats it!

“It’ll give you and Carl a chance to talk about what’s been going on with you and Lori. Clear the air and what not. After all the kid’s going to need his favorite uncle,” Rick said. Knowing that everything he said was true. Though maybe not as important as it would have been if Carl hadn’t returned.

The sooner the air was cleared the better. Which would lessen the tension Carl must have felt around Shane. It would also give Shane more responsibility for Carl, and therefore a tether to the group. Rick was going into this with his eyes wide open. He knew that despite his best efforts he wouldn’t always be there when Carl needed him.

True his son could handle anything thrown his way, but that didn’t mean he didn’t need support from the adults around him. Or their protection when things went from bad to worse. Daryl would be essential in helping Rick raise their son. They both knew that there were going to be times when he wouldn’t want to go to his parents. Having Shane, the cool uncle figure, would give Carl someone to confide in if needed. And in this world it would definitely be needed.

Shane relaxed again. He even smiled, “That would be a good idea. Do you want me to talk to him about the divorce?”

“Only if he wants to. Otherwise we-I’ll handle it,” Rick automatically included Daryl in the ‘we’ he hoped that Shane and the other non-returned would think he meant Lori. With that everyone split off to their jobs. Rick, Daryl, and Michonne grabbed what they would need for their warning system before heading for the perimeter of the tents. Just out of sight from most of the camp.

“I have never wanted to kill anybody as much as I want to kill your ex and half this camp,” Michonne groaned.

“That’s a lie,” Daryl chuckled. His tone might have been light, but his eyes were tight as a shadow passed over them. She just shrugged.

“They’ll get better,” Rick said, wrapping his arms around Daryl’s waist. The hunter bent his head back so it rested on Rick’s shoulder. A contented sigh leaving both of them. Use to their pda Michonne rolled her eyes.

“If the two of you could focus on something other than each other, or your kids, for five minutes, maybe we can come up with a plan,” she scolded.

“I don’t want to leave Hershel out of any plans,” Rick admitted.

“Neither do I, but we need something to work with,” she started stringing up cans.

“So the plan is, get to the farm so we can make a plan,” Daryl snarked.

“Did the red neck just make a joke?” she raised a sarcastic eyebrow. How she managed to make her eyebrow look sarcastic was beyond Rick. He had long since given up figuring out her mysterious ways.

“Enough,” Rick sighed, letting go of Daryl to start setting up the cans, “Yes, our first step is the farm. Then we have to decide to go to the prison this winter or not?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Daryl asked, the memories of that harsh winter haunting his eyes. They’d had worse of course. That winter had been their first introduction into surviving on the fringes.

“Given our knowledge of the future we could prep the farm for that herd to come through. Move to the prison in the spring,” Rick suggested.

“I want Judith born in the safety of our home,” Daryl’s brow set in the way it always did when he was being stubborn. Rick’s own stubborn streak had butted heads with Daryl’s over the years.

“I won’t argue with that, but we both know that the Prison isn’t a permanent option,” Rick reminded him.

“Neither is Alexandria! We lost over half of the group we left Terminous with because of that place. Because of _him_!” Daryl’s voice shook. Fear, anger, grief, hatred, it all mixed into his eyes. Rick carefully grabbed his hand. Then he started rubbing slow, soothing circles with his thumb.

“Daryl, I agree. But we also gathered some family there too-“

“I’m not going back to him. Not again. I’ll do anything, but not that,” Daryl said sternly.

“I agree,” Michonne said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

“I’ll die first,” Rick swore as he kissed the top of the hunter’s head.

“Don’t do that, just promise it’ll be different,” Daryl sighed.

“Kay, but if we go to the prison there’s Woodbury and the Governor to consider,” Rick reminded them.

“Cut off the head before it can become trouble. I could do it, sneak in-“ Daryl was cut off.

“No, I don’t want you being kidnapped by any psychopaths this go around. Stepping foot in that place is begging for trouble. Maybe find a way to get to the people first?” Rick suggested.

“Or we could take him out long distance,” Michonne suggested, an sly smile creeping over her face.

“What are you thinking of?” Daryl asked, jumping at the chance for killing one of the threats to their people.

“The whole reason me and Andrea got caught by the Governor and his men was because we were all investigating a helicopter crash. One of the pilots survived long enough to tell him where the others were. Not long after that the Governor set out, and came back with all of their supplies. I don’t know if they were really dead when he got there or not, but I’d bet they had a sniper riffle in there,” Michonne suggested.

“What if they’re alive? I doubt they’ll want to kill someone for no reason,” Daryl questioned.

“No, but we could say that we were looking at the Governor and his Cult back before the world ended,” Rick liked this idea.

“Could say that he was partnered with the people who ran, or run, Terminous,” Michonne nodded along. Seeing where he was going with this.

“These guys are military though, right? They aren’t just going to bow down to us. They’ll take over,”

“Not if we give them the one thing every survivor wants,”

“Water, Food, no zombies,” Michonne listed.

“And the chance at a real home, well at least the ones like us,” Rick acknowledged, “We’ll treat them like we did the two prisoners. Help them clear out a block then slowly let them into the folds,”

“And if they don’t join the family?” Daryl questioned.

“We could send them in the direction of Terminous,” Michonne suggested.

“Or we could let events, that we have fore warning to, eliminate the few actually causing problems. It would help bolster our numbers and strengthen their ties with our family as we offer our support in their grief. Ours too, I’m sure we’ll find a few who are threats to our family that will have to be handled,”

“Like Ed,” Daryl nodded along.

“Who?” Michonne asked.

“Oh, right we made a point not to mention him or Sophia,” Rick recalled why she didn’t know about the man.

“Ed was, is, Carol’s abusive husband,” the hunter clarified.

“Then he’ll have to go. I could do it,”

“You don’t have to, he’ll likely die tomorrow night in the attack on the camp,”

“ _That’s_ why you want everyone training tomorrow,” she accused.

“Shane’s right, we’ll never convince this group to move in time. Besides Ed needs to die, the walker attack, if he isn’t caught in it, would be the perfect cover,”

“Carol has to be the one to put a pick axe through his brain after though. Help her heal some,” Daryl informed.

“I can’t believe we’re planning on killing people with the knowledge that we have,” she shook her head.

“In order to protect our family,” Daryl reminded her.

“Besides, I’m sure we won’t have any trouble with the soldiers,” Rick tried to re-assure.

“Ensure Ed’s timely demise and then to the farm. From there the prison,” Michonne said as she tied another knot.

“Along with the attack tomorrow night we also ran into trouble on the way to the farm. Whole reason we wound up there in the first place is because we got stopped by a traffic jam. Right before a herd came threw,”

“Sophia, Carol’s little girl, got separated from the group. Wasn’t till later we found out she’d been bit,” Daryl added.

“Best thing for that is to have all the kids stay in the RV with Andrea and Dale,” Rick reasoned. Carl would be able to protect them if need be. It was also the most defensible position while they caravanned. They would have to do something about the windows, but that wouldn't happen until they reached the farm.

“Need to set up a system for reuniting. We got lucky last time, all of us going back to the jam. If we’d had somethin’ in place maybe Andrea wouldn’t have wound up with the Governor,” Daryl added.

“We’ll bring it up at dinner,” Michonne concluded.

“Back to the dangerous people, what about Shane? Obviously you want to try to save him like the idiot you are,” Daryl frowned. Well more like he wore a blank expression, cause he was always frowning. That’s what made his smiles special. Rick knew they needed to talk about this. He just wasn’t sure he was ready.

“Yes, I want to try saving him. It’s obvious how much Lori manipulated him both times,”

“That’s something I don’t like. That ex of yours is dangerous. That kind of influence over anyone is. We saw it plenty before, just never from a woman,” Michonne voiced.

“We need her alive for Judith. After that we’ll see,” Rick reasoned.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe Shane going off the deep end wasn’t his fault entirely,” Daryl admitted.

“I don’t think it was just Lori either. I brushed him off last time. Too caught up in my family and surviving to see the cracks. Lori and Carl were his only ties to the group,”

“And you kind of usurped him,” Daryl said and then at the raised eyebrows the two gave him he added, “which was a good thing as far as I’m concerned. He would have cracked eventually.”

“If we can keep him away from Lori that’ll be a big help. Andrea too, neither of them are stable enough for each other right now,”

“If Amy survives she might be,” Daryl reasoned. Michonne was looking confused. She knew some things about the group’s journey from the query, to the farm, to the prison, but there was plenty that they had left out.

“Not worth the risk. We should try to keep him involved with the running of the group. I do not want to be the only one in charge again,” Rick ran a hand threw his hair. He was sure that he would go gray even sooner this time.

“So no Ricktatorship?” Daryl joked.

“I hate to break it to you, but until we reach the prison we might need that kind of leadership,” Michonne winced even as she said it.

“Maybe not to the extreme it got to, but she’s got a point. The group has to get to the prison and right now they’re more like a herd of sheep that need a dog nipping at their heels to move them where we need them to go,” Daryl said.

“Fine, but I’m making you two and Hershel my council,” Rick reasoned.

“If you want Shane involved you better include him,” Daryl put in.

“Fine, but you three need to bring things up in a way that isn’t going to tip him off that we’ve done this before,” Rick pressed.

“Not a problem. With our cover and Hershel’s local knowledge we should be able to get to the prison without any suspicion,” Michonne assured. With their business done the three spent their time recalling funny stories and found memories from their shared lives. By the time they were done the sun was dipping down behind the trees. Michonne lead the way back to camp.

Daryl pulled Rick around and crashed their mouths together. Rick stood shocked for half a moment before moaning into his hunter’s mouth. He let himself be backed into a tree. By the time they pulled apart Rick’s pants were too tight. He could also feel Daryl’s hard length pressing into his thigh. Daryl pressed their foreheads together and swore. They looked each other in the eyes and knew the same thought was passing threw their minds.

Could they be quiet enough to not wake Carl and half the camp later?


	7. Thunder

Dinner was fish stew that night. Thanks to Andrea and Amy’s fishing skills as well as Carol’s cooking skills. The fire felt sweltering compared to the summer heat. Rick would take the heat over the winter’s cold any day. Just like that another thing popped into his mind. He added firewood and winter cloths to the list.

Lori sat across the fire from him. Which was about as far away as one could get. Still the position gave her the perfect opportunity to pout at him and make huffy noises like she was going to cry. When that didn’t garner a reaction she glared instead.

Carl had grabbed the stump to his left. Shane had taken the seat to Rick’s right. He shared an exasperated look with Daryl as the hunter plopped down on Carl’s other side. Morgan’s eyes darted between the two men and narrowed. Rick got the impression that he’d be getting interrogated by the good doctor soon. Michonne watched in amusement as her two men took turns feeding Andre as he sat on her lap. The rest of the group eyed the new comers with suspicion, curiosity, distrust, and in some cases adoration. Apparently being the one to save the runners had made a big impression.

When everyone was busy eating Rick spoke up, “I’m guessing some of you have noticed that we’ve been taking stock and reorganizing the supplies.”

He got several people nodding. They murmured about what it could mean.

“We’ve not been very smart about rationing and maintaining our supplies. That’s on me,” Shane spoke up. Many protested. Saying that they hadn’t thought of doing that themselves. He waved them off.

“Me and the others have put together go-bags for everyone. Tomorrow we’ll go over what all is in them. They’re all exactly the same, or there about, so grab one to keep either with you at all times or in your vehicle. We don’t know what could happen, we should all be prepared,” Morgan stepped in. Those around the fire nodded their approval. Seeing the sense in their actions. Many wondered why they needed to be prepared.

“This isn’t a vacation. It isn’t some weekend camping trip. No one is going to save us, or help us if we get in trouble. We’re on our own and we need to be ready for when things go from bad to worse,” Daryl cut them off. The group stared at him. Rick would wager that they hadn’t heard him speak that much in all the time he’d been there.

“In the spirit of that we will be using tomorrow as a training day. Morgan will be running a first aid training program. Daryl, Michonne, Shane and I will be running different combat and survival clinics. We’ll be covering hand to hand combat, knife fighting, improvised weaponry, and survival skills,” Rick announced. He left out how Michonne would also be evaluating the group members to see who she would begin teaching to wield some of the weapons she’d found at the museum. That training wouldn’t start until the farm. They didn’t want to give away weapons to people who would just wind up leaving them.

“Everyone is to participate, no exceptions,” Shane added.

“What about our chores?” Janis asked.

“That’s why we’re doing this in small groups with rotations. That way there is always one group available to do chores,” Rick explained.

“And the kids, will they be participating too?” Carol asked.

“Especially the kids,” Daryl answered, ruffling Carl’s hair. The kid batted at his hand half heartedly. It was obvious to Rick and Daryl that all their boy really wanted was to lean into the comforting hand.

“You can’t be serious. You want to teach our son how to use weapons? You want to encourage him to fight?” Lori protested.

“I’d rather Carl learn to fight and wield weapons than to get killed,” Rick reasoned.

“If you’re there to protect him, then he wont die!” Lori shouted.

“And what would happen if I wasn’t? What if I’m on a run, or I get killed? What if Carl gets separated from the group? What then, how will he survive?”

“Shane, how can you stand by as he takes over with that mongrel?” Lori turned to Shane instead of answering. Shane ground his teeth. He’d struggled with letting go of the power last time. Whether it was that same struggle or he was offended on their behalf didn’t matter. Rick lightly bumped shoulders with his friend. Shane looked up surprised, but returned the offered smile.

“He discussed this with me already and I agreed,” Shane shrugged. He didn’t relinquish all the power of leadership, but it was a step in the right direction.

Lori huffed before getting up and heading to her tent for the night.

“You ain’t doing nothing with my wife or little girl,” Ed spat. With that he yanked Carol up by her arm. Daryl and Rick were on either side of him in a flash.

“Let go of her,” Daryl’s voice dropped into that deadly tone. His fingers twitched to where he hid his knife.

“You ain’t going to do nothin’ without your big brother here to protect you,” Ed said, tightening his grip. Instead of responding Daryl punched him. Ed let go a Carol in his shock. Rick ushered her towards Morgan. He noticed that Carl had gotten up at some point and moved Sophia back towards where they’d been sitting.

“I think its time for you to turn in for the night, Ed. Don’t worry about Carol and Soph, they’ll be staying somewhere else tonight while you think about your actions,” Rick said with his hand on his gun.

Ed’s face turned a nasty shade of red. He stalked away from the fire. Kicking things as he went. Still, at least he was gone.

“Thank you,” Carol muttered. She was so different from the woman Rick remembered. While the Carol he remembered was always tensed for an attack, it was never out of fear like the woman he saw before him.

“Morgan would you and Duane mind if they stay with you tonight?” Rick asked. He hoped the doctor would be able to look over and treat any injuries she had. He hoped that Ed hadn’t laid a hand on Sophia. He sighed, knowing it was a vane hope.

“Of course they can,” Morgan assured. Everyone sat around the fire. No one said anything until Dale spoke up

“Guess this means there aren’t any police anymore. Despite Rick’s uniform,” Dale looked towards him. Rick shook his head in agreement.

“No hospitals either,” Amy wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Andrea swung a comforting arm around her.

“No military,” Shane added.

“No government,” one of the other members who’d died in the first attack said.

“I guess the world is really over,” Glen sighed. He took off his hat and ran a hand threw his hair. Rick was amazed at how young the man looked. Last time around it had seemed like they aged decades over night.

“No, it isn’t. We’re still here ain’t we?” Daryl asked. He looked around the fire. Finding no confirmation the park ranger turned to Rick.

“Daryl’s right. We’ve survived. Now the world as we knew it, is over. That doesn’t mean we can’t make a new one,” Rick spoke up. He couldn’t let them fall into despair. Not this soon. Besides now was the best time to plant that seed of hope. That dream they’d worked towards. The one that had kept them going along with their love for each other.

“What are you talking about?” Shane asked sounding tired. His eyes though, shown with hope. A glance around the group revealed the same fragile hope peering out from the eyes that had turned towards him.

“We’re all that’s left of humanity. It’s up to us to remake society,”

“Remake society?” Morales questioned.

“With those things out there?” one of the others asked.

“I’m not saying that it will be easy. Surviving is going to be the toughest thing any of us has ever done. Yes there’s the zombies. And there are other groups out there-”

“Wait, other groups?” Andrea asked. Many heads popped up at that. Curious and hopeful. Rick needed to squash that. There were very few he would ever trust in this world.

“There are bound to be other groups that have managed to survive. We need to be careful of them,”

“Why? We’re all people,”

“Rick’s right. Did any of you watch what happened with Katrina? Same deal. There will be good people who do bad things to survive. Bad people who enjoy not having the law tell them what to do or to keep them in check. And others who would normally never do something but without the threat of punishment…” Shane shook his head. Apparently he’d been thinking about what Rick had said about why they knew the government and military wouldn’t save them.

“Personally the people scare me more than the geeks,” Daryl bit at his thumb.

“How can you say that?” one of the women looked scandalized.

“Geeks are like animals. They can’t control themselves. They run on instinct. But humans? Humans make choices. They know better and still choose to be…monsters,” Michonne defended him.

“And what gives you this great insight into the human mind?” one of the men asked.

“I was a DA for the city of Atlanta,” Michonne answered, “That’s how Daryl, Rick, and I met.”

“And you didn’t tell me or Lori about them because?” Shane turned to Rick.

“I wasn’t allowed to. It’s still an open case,” Rick explained.

“And the feds butted their fat heads in,” Daryl added. There were a few raised brows.

“You guys gonna tell us about that?” Glenn asked.

“Not tonight, it’s a long story,” Michonne said.

“Back to business,” Daryl interrupted their groans. Rick smiled, grateful for his husband’s stern tone. Which he’d honed with their kids.

“There are a few ground rules the group needs to establish,” Rick announced.

“Like laws?” Dale looked hopeful. Poor man. He wasn’t suited for this world. Too idealistic. Still he had useful knowledge and he helped anchor the group. Offering a calming voice of reason. Not something found too often in the times they lived in.

“Not quite. These are more rules for safety,” Michonne explained.

“First and fore most, no one goes anywhere alone. Always have a buddy,” Rick stated.

“Even to the bathroom?” Amy’s nose wrinkled in disgust.

“ _Especially_ when you’re going to the bathroom,” Rick emphasized.

“You don’t want to get caught by one of those geeks with your pants down,” Daryl startled a laugh out of several members of the group. He ducked his head back down at the attention being directed at himself. He wasn’t as bad as he had been, but the hunter would never cherish the spot light.

“Rule two, don’t go anywhere without a weapon of some kind. It’s real easy to be startled by one of those geeks,” Rick said.

“Most of us have never used a gun,” one of the women shuffled nervously from where she sat.

“The geeks are attracted to sound so, if you can, avoid using a gun. Use a knife, bat, or other quiet weapon,” Daryl explained. He was biting more fervently at his thumb with all the attention he was gathering. Rick didn’t want him to start bleeding so he grabbed Daryl’s hand and entertained their fingers. The attention that garnered caused a deep blush to rush up the hunter’s neck. Daryl stubbornly stared at the ground instead of meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Rule three is more for when we start moving-“

“Moving?” Dale asked. Many faces had gone pale in the fire light. Rick sighed. He knew it would take time before people wanted to move. He also knew they didn’t have a lot of choice.

“We can’t stay here forever,” Michonne spoke up, “winter will be here before we know it. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t want to unzip my tent one morning only to find a wall of snow.”

“There’s no telling what could happen on the road. If anyone gets separated from the group, we meet up at the last mile marker we passed. If it’s safe then stay there. If it is not, put something there so the others can know you’ve been there. We check first thing in the morning and at sunset,” Rick let that sink in. He would later add a time limit, but figured the group should vote on that.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Morgan agreed.

“Anymore rules?” Shane asked.

“When we meet new people the first five questions are: Have they killed any walkers? How many? Have they killed any people? Why? Then ask what they did before all this,” Rick instructed.

“Do you think people will answer honestly?” Jim asked.

He’d been keeping quiet until now. Rick had almost forgotten why they had gone to the CDC in the first place. He wasn’t sure what to do when, if, the man got bitten. He’d prefer to end the man’s life quickly and as painlessly as possible. Somehow he didn’t think that would fly with the group. They were still too squeamish.

“No, its up to us to spot the lies. Those are important questions though,”

“Anything else?” Shane asked.

“I’m sure we’ll come up with some more. If anyone else has something to add, they can. Now and in the future,” Rick shrugged. He rubbed circles on the back of Daryl’s hand.

“Can we have code names?” Carl asked, still a kid despite his return.

“Why would we need code names?” Sophia asked.

“We’re re-building society, why not?” Carl shrugged.

“It would be handy not to be giving our names out to just anyone,” Michonne said. They’d encountered quite a few groups that had gone around asking about them last time.

“Alright, but they should have a theme. Promote group solidarity and all that,” Shane reasoned. Rick couldn’t help but smile. It was just like when they had been on the football team. Instead of calling out numbers they had used each other’s nick names. It confused the hell out of their opponents.

“If that’s so, then they should be something earned,” Daryl added.

“It can be like our own ceremony. Every culture has their ceremonies,” Dale nodded his approval. They were laying the foundation of their new society. Well, maybe they were just clearing and marking where the foundation would go.

“What’s our theme?” Rick asked. With that the conversation around the fire became light hearted. Some offered serious answers, like the names of their home towns. There were silly suggestions, things like the name of their favorite food.

“What if we got our names from greek mythology?” Carl suggested. Rick had a feeling that his son had been planning this for a while. People started nodding, liking the idea.

“Okay so how do we know who gets a name?”

“What name do we get? Is it random?”

“We get names when we prove that we can provide for the group,” Daryl spoke up.

“And they should be unique to a characteristic about ourselves or our job within the group,” Rick added.

“Okay does anyone here deserve a name yet?” Dale asked, getting a hoot out of the activity.

“Glenn,” Rick and Daryl said at the same time.

“Seriously, me?” the Korean man pointed at himself.

“You deserve it,” T-Dog agreed.

“You’re always going on runs for the stuff we need,” Andrea nodded her approval.

“You’re a strategic planner,” Daryl added.

“Okay, so do I get a say in what my name is, cause I like Zeus,” Glenn smiled.

“You can’t be Zeus,” Carl scrunched his nose.

“Why not?” Glenn asked indignantly.

“Because that’s Dad’s codename, duh,” Carl rolled his eyes.

“Why is Rick, Zeus?” Michonne asked around a cough that sounded more like a smothered laugh.

“Because he’s the leader and Zeus is the king of the gods,” Carl explained. Rick sputtered.

“Guess that makes Daryl Hera,” Michonne muttered under her breath.

“That’s not really fair son. Shane’s been leading this group,” Rick tried to reason.

“And he’s done an okay job at it, but he isn’t a leader. It probably also doesn’t help that he’s been…preoccupied. Then there’s you Dad. I know you’re still recovering from your injury and you must be exhausted from traveling, despite pretending otherwise. Yet you’ve taken the time to organize all the stuff we’re doing to improve the group tomorrow. I also know that Daryl, Michonne, and you have spent the last couple of hours rigging up an alarm system,” Carl pointed out towards the woods.

“Kid does have a point,” Morgan agreed. Though if that was out of true agreement or just wanting to get on Shane’s nerves, it was hard to say.

“It’s just a stupid name,” Shane grumbled.

“Shane has done a lot for the group. He still deserves a name,” Andrea spoke up.

“I agree,” Rick nodded, “Zeus had two brothers. You can choose the name for yourself Shane, Poseidon or Hades,”

“The ruler of the sea or the ruler of the underworld. Tough pick,” Daryl teased.

“Wasn’t Hades evil?” Duane wrinkled his nose.

“Naw, actually he was probably the best god of them all,” Carl said.

“How’s that?” Shane asked.

“He didn’t get involved in the drama that other gods and goddesses did. Yeah, he was in charge of punishing people, but that’s because they did bad things in their lives. His wife actually came up with the worse punishments. He didn’t lie and the only time he tricked anyone was when he wanted Persephone to stay,” Carl explained.

“Even then he agreed to let her spend half the year with her mother. How many guys do you know would do that? Also he was the only one to be faithful to their spouse,” Rick agreed. They had started reading about some of the mythologies together before the coma.

“Hades doesn’t sound so bad,” Shane shrugged.

“If we get a dog can we name it Cerberus?” Carl looked to Shane.

“Okay, but which god do I get to be?” Glenn asked. Carl turned to the Korean man, studying him with a critical eye. Then a smile crept over his face.

“Hermes,” he answered. Rick knew his son already had the names for everyone all picked out. They hadn’t discussed it, but somehow he knew.

“The guy with the wings on his shoes and bad eyesight?” Glenn frowned. Apparently he was thinking of the disney depiction.

“Hermes was the messenger of the gods. He was also the god of both merchants and thieves. He is considered one of, if not the, smartest god,” Rick reassured him. It was a perfect name for their own clever runner.

“Yeah, as a baby he stole Apollo’s cows,” Carl giggled.

“Really?” Glenn looked impressed.

“This I gotta hear,” Michonne leaned forward.

With that Carl launched into the myth of how Hermes stole the other god’s sacred cows as an infant. Rick was impressed by his son’s story telling. He was descriptive, making it easy to imagine what was happening. He moved his hands in exaggerated motions. He even changed his voice the way Rick used to when reading bedtime stories to him.

By the end the group was enthralled. Glen proudly took on the code name Hermes. The others were asking for more stories. Carl was about to start the one about Persephone becoming Hades’ bride. Only to be cut off by a wide mouthed yawn.

“You can tell that one tomorrow night. We’ve all got to be up early,” Rick stretched, wincing as his side caught on the scar tissue.

“You heard Zeus, off to bed,” Michonne chuckled, already getting a kick out of the name. Rick rolled his eyes at her.

“Joans, Mark, you two have first night shift,” Shane instructed. If he could keep his friend from going crazy he had a feeling that this time around would be a lot easier. Rick and Daryl wouldn’t have to always be the ‘bad guys’ by reminding people to do their jobs.

Rick threw an arm around Daryl’s shoulder as they made their way towards their tent. Shane walked on Rick’s other side. When he saw Carl walking next to Sophia he jutted his chin in his son’s direction. Daryl hummed. Shane broke out into a shit eating grin.

“Looks like he’s got himself a girlfriend now,” Shane chuckled.

“Their heading towards Morgan’s tent. Duane is with em. Could be he’s got a boyfriend,” Daryl shrugged. Shane choked on air. He gabbed like a fish for several seconds.

“You’re not serious?” Shane finally choked out.

“You got a problem with that?” Daryl’s kept his voice and face neutral. A perfect facade of calm. By the way he went stiff under Rick’s arm, he knew his hunter was anything but.

“No! Rick’s-I mean, I just never met anyone who’s-,” Shane fumbled. He cursed when he tripped over a rock.

“He knows,” Rick rolled his eyes.

“He does?” both men said at the same time.

“You two must be closer than I thought,” Shane mumbled. His eyes seemed to find the dark ground interesting all of a sudden. Rick could tell that his old friend was feeling left out again. He sighed, knowing that he couldn’t fix it this time. There was no way he was going to ask Daryl to-

“I’m gay,” Daryl suddenly blurted in true Daryl fashion. All at once and so quiet one questioned if they’d heard right.

“Oh, I-wait are you two…?” Shane trailed off gesturing with his hand.

“Not until I told Lori I was leaving her,”

Shane’s eyebrows shot up at that, “So you two never…?”

“I am nobody’s other woman,” Daryl scowled. If only they could weaponize that scowl. Geeks would be dropping dead left and right. Shane nodded slowly. They continued on in an awkward silence. The ex-deputy stopped in his tracks. He turned to look at them with big eye, blush crawling up his neck.

“Wait, were you to planning to-you know-tonight?” he asked them.

“Not with Carl staying in the same tent,” Rick snorted.

“Besides the Doc already nixed strenuous activities,” Daryl smirked. The lie dripping from his lips. Morgan had restricted Rick’s activities, but he’d never implied that sex was out of the question. Shane’s blushed deepened. Rick felt his own ears go pink. That smirk turned into a scowl, directed at Rick.

“Which should include sitting out of training tomorrow, but the idiot insists it’s more important than his health,” Daryl scolded. Great the hunter might not have realized it, but he had officially recruited Shane to be yet another nanny goat when it came to Rick.

“I’ll take it easy,” he tried to brush their disapproving eyes off. It was clear neither believed him.

“Sure, like when you got sick at academy,” Shane said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a couple of things. 
> 
> First, if the myths I talk about aren't exactly the ones you're familiar with that's probably because there are several versions of the same myths. They also changed over time, even in the hight of ancient Greek society.
> 
> Second, what did y'all think of adding that layer to the story? I haven't seen anyone do that so I'm curious to see what people think. 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter


	8. Good Morning Sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them. I'm glad so many of you liked the addition of some greek mythology. As an extra treat I'm posting two chapters tonight. Hope ya'll enjoy them.

Daryl woke up feeling hair tickle his chin. An arm was draped over his side. He was also way too hot to remain asleep. Blinking open his eyes he found the second most wonderful sight he could imagine. Carl curled up between him and Rick. Both of them safe and sound. The only thing better would be to have Judith tucked in next to her brother. And for Shane’s snores to not be shaking the ground. How could someone make so much noise from a tent away?

Rick still had his sixth sense from the old world. A few minutes of Daryl peacefully watching and the man was blinking awake.

“Mornin',” he whispered, trying not to wake Carl.

“Good Morning,” Rick hummed.

“Stop eye fucking, its too early,” Carl complained, his eyes stubbornly closed.

“Language,” Daryl and Rick’s voices echoed together.

“Didn’t you two do enough of that last night?” Carl’s voice was more teasing now. A smirk graced his face that likely made Rick think, ‘man he looks so much like Daryl’ It was something they’d both noticed the first time around. Carl might not be the hunters, but he had adopted a lot of his mannerisms.

“We did no such thing,” Daryl grumbled even as he felt his ears go pink. They didn’t have sex last night. They didn’t want to have a witness, especially not their son. Even if he was fast asleep. That didn’t mean they didn’t want sex though. He’d had half a mind to stuff Carl with Shane or Lori. They’d been separated for longer than they had ever been since…well Negan. It had been even longer for Rick who’d come back earlier.

“Sure you didn’t,” Carl’s smirk was broken when he yawned.

They lay there just enjoying the quiet. Appreciating these brief moments. Knowing they would have few of these in the near future. When they couldn’t excuse laying in their tent any longer, the family got up. Shane didn’t even stir in the next tent over as the three of them got ready for the day.

Daryl met Ricks eyes before jutting his chin in the direction of the other tent. One regretful look and he stepped back so Rick could make his way next door. They couldn’t very well leave Shane on his own after their laying down of the rules last night. There was a lot that could be said of leading by example.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Shane demanded even as he pushed himself up from his sleeping bag.

“Sun ’s up,” Daryl told him poking his head threw the door. He received an exaggerated eye roll for that. Daryl’s eyes met Rick’s and they shared a smile of laughter, which was really more a twitching of lips. After the moment passed he nodded towards Carl. They would need to get started on breakfast. Rick nodded his agreement. With that they set off, Rick staying with his friend. He could hear Shane question their absence. He still didn’t like leaving Rick with Shane. The sheriff’s deputy could handle himself though and they had a group to take care of.

Without having to ask, Carl led them to Morgan’s tent. A quick rattle on the side of the tent had the doctor poking his head out. His smile at seeing them quickly dropped into a frown.

“Where’s Rick?” he asked.

“Waking Shane, told him we’d get started on food,” Carl explained. Daryl grunted in agreement.

“Let me get the ladies up and we’ll join you,”

“Let them sleep. I’m sure this is the first safe sleep they’ve had in a while,” Daryl waved him off.

“True, but I’d hate for that no good husband of hers to come over and surprise them while I’m gone,”

“It’s alright, I’m up. I’m not used to sleeping in,” Carol spoke up. She looked better. The bags under her eyes weren’t so heavy. She still had that tremor running through her, but that would take time to go away.

“Good mornin’ Miss Carol,” Carl said, he twisted his head. Trying to peer around the adults to see Duane and Sophia. Not a moment later the two kids in question poked their heads out.

“Want to help with breakfast?” Carl asked. Their faces lit up. It was easy to see who their ring leader was. Like father like son. The two kids tried to dart out in their sleeping cloths.

“Why don’t you two get ready for the day first,” Daryl suggested.

“Duane, lets wait outside. Give the ladies some privacy,” Morgan nudged his son out. Duane quickly joined Carl. The two delving into a spirited conversation. He was surprised to hear that instead of a debate about comic book heroes, they were talking about greek myths.

“How was Rick last night? Any trouble with his wound?” Morgan questioned.

“Naw, none of that,”

“He’s good at faking his health,” the doc warned. Daryl bit his lip to hide the smile creeping over his face. It was good to see someone just as protective of Rick as he was. Especially when there weren’t other motives. He still had doubts about Shane. Thought he might try playing second fiddle in order to gain power, like last time.

“Not with me he isn’t,” Daryl assured. Morgan studied him for a minute.

“How long have you two..?” he asked.

“Less than a day,”

“Doesn’t seem that way to me, but who am I to judge?”

“Its not that we didn’t want to. But with Lori-I wanted all or nothing and-well you know Rick,” he wouldn’t call himself a great lier. It was easier to go off of things that were based in truth, at least from his side.

“Wanted to make things work with her. Must have hurt,”

“Yeah,”

“Worked out in the end though,” Morgan grinned like a cheshire cat. Daryl hummed in response. Carol and Sophia crawled out of the tent and it was Morgan and Duane’s turn to get ready. Rick came strolling up. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. Shane tumbling along beside him.

“Mornin’ all,” Rick greeted to bleary eyed glares. Daryl shook his head. He knew the sheriff wasn’t naturally a morning person. It had taken years for him to adjust to waking with the sun. Daryl waved Morgan off when he moved to Michonne’s tent. At the doctor’s confused look he gestured towards the campfire.

“You can smell the meat from here,” Rick explained for him. Daryl raised an eyebrow at his husband. He needed to start forming his own connection to the doctor. He didn’t need a Daryl to english translator, thank you very much. Mirth sparkled in the sheriff's eyes. It made them so pretty. He never thought he’d ever describe another guy as pretty. Not without worrying about getting his teeth knocked out by said guy, or another hypermasculine man within earshot.

A knife thrown at his face brought him out of his appreciation of his partner. He caught it with a deaf hand. To the astonished stares of the non-returned.

“Good morning to you too Michonne,” Daryl twirled the knife in his hand. He would have thrown it back but she had Andre on her hip. They’d made a rule a long time ago. No dangerous stuff with kids in their arms. Not that throwing a knife at someone who was used to catching them for fun would be very dangerous. Still the kids weren’t worth risking.

“First breakfast is almost done for the early risers,” Tarry said, shifting and watching for Daryl’s reaction to the swordwoman’s knife throwing. A less trained eye wouldn’t have noticed how the man’s hand twitched toward the sickle on his hip. Mike on the other hand looked ready to leap in front of Michonne and Andre.

Daryl plopped down onto a log he’d claimed as his. Pulling out a whetstone he started sharpening the knife. He rolled his eyes when the non-returned visibly relaxed.

“Aw, but we wanted to help with breakfast,” Sophia pouted.

“Don’t worry you can help with the next round of cooking,” Mike assured much to the kids delight. Carl didn’t look delighted at the prospect of cooking. It was more like he found delight in the joy of Sophia and Duane’s excitement. It made his heart ache to think about how Carl would still miss out on a childhood. Too consumed with grown up issues. What did they expect though? Carl was an adult in a child’s body.

The rest of the camp slowly started coming around. The smells of breakfast luring them from their sleeping bags. The early risers finished their breakfast but hung around at Rick’s request. Eric took Andre with him as he started chatting people up about what they did before the zombies. When the rest of the camp started eating Rick started talking. Daryl’s lips twitched into a smile. The man was smart, their full mouths kept many from protesting the groups they were put in.

They set the rotations up so that groups went to first aid with Morgan first. Then they would have a break to do chores before joining Daryl for survival skills. Finally they would join Michonne and Shane for combat and weapons training. Rick would go from group to group to gauge progress and help where needed.

Two exceptions were made. The first were those who planed to be runners: Glen, T-Dog, Andrea, Morales and two others Rick wasn’t familiar with. Runners started in survival then progressed from there. The second were people who wanted to be guards: Dale, Mechal, and six others. They went to combat and weapons first. This made sure they would get to everyone. The kids would be the last ones through.

Daryl watched Rick pull Morgan aside before he went to get set up. He knew that the sheriff was telling their only doctor to pick out one or two people who excelled at first aid. They had discussed it and decided they needed another person with medical training incase something happened. Whomever the doctor chose would be his apprentice.

Michonne would watch for any she could teach to use a sword once they got to the farm. Daryl had already started teaching Carl way back when. He’d been told to keep an eye out for anyone he thought would make a good hunter. Problem was even if there were people who showed potential he doubted he would get along with them. Like Andrea. She already knew how to fish and she wanted to learn how to shoot. Last time around he had a feeling that she hadn’t liked him. She did shoot him. Now she seemed indifferent towards him at best. Maybe he’d pawn her off on Merle. Not his first choice in mentor, but they’d all agreed to keep her away from Shane. And now that everyone knew Rick and Lori were done they’d assumed the sheriff was free range. Already single women were eyeing him up. Batting doe eyes and cocking their curvy hips.

Daryl swore if one more woman made a pass at his man, he would be kissing him in front of the entire camp. Just to make sure they got the message. He didn’t care if they thought he acted like a territorial dog. If it kept their paws off Rick it would be worth it. His possessive streak, something he’d never had before Rick, warmed his stomach at the thought of showing everyone that Rick was his.


	9. Here Comes the Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason for the BAMF Carl tag

Carl surveyed the area around the small lake from his perch atop a bolder. It was something he made sure to do every so often. It helped him keep track of the other kids. His dads had placed him in charge of them. The other kids gave him odd looks but easily excepted that he was ‘playing’ lookout. It also gave him a vantage point from which to see possible threats to their group. One could never be too careful.

Sophia and Duane had climbed up to sit with him the last few times. It was strange to be around kids his age. Though really he was closer to Amy’s age. He swore to himself that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to Sophia this time. Duane had told him he would help keep her safe too. Of course he’d meant safe from her father, but it was a good start.

Speaking of, Ed had just walked up to the women washing cloths. He’d been loitering for a while. Which was part of the reason he’d gotten up on the boulder.

“Pablo, Maria get back to camp tell my dads that Ed is causing trouble,” he called down to the Morales kids. They’d been trying to catch the tiny fish in the shallows. They ran off, splashing as they did. He sighed, they needed to learn not to make so much noise.

“I hope I ain’t anywhere near them if a walker’s close by,” Duane shook his head. Carl liked the teasing glint in his eyes. It was so much better than the terrified, haunted eyes he had noticed from time to time. It was a look he’d come to recognize in himself after he’d kept his Mom from turning. It was a special kind of torture watching a parent die.

Ed was talking now. Carol’s head was bent. Even from this distance he could see the tremor in her shoulders. His hands twitched towards the pair of knives Daryl had given him on that first hunting trip. Sophia whimpered as she watched the abuse and the sound kept him from pulling one out. She didn’t need to see that. Not yet. Besides his Dads said Carol needed to be the one to give that final blow. He wasn’t about to take that from her.

That’s when he realized that Shane wasn’t there like last time. Ed had to be in that tent to be bitten. That left Carl to beat him down. If Michonne were with them she would have done more than argue with Ed. A useless endeavor. He’d learned long ago that you can’t reason with a crazy person.

“Duane if he comes over here take Sophia back to your Dad,” Carl ordered. Without waiting to hear if his new friend would follow the command or not he bound off the boulder. Sprinting towards where Ed had grabbed Carol. He could hear the other women trying to verbally defend her, but still none got up.

Carl smashed his elbow into Ed’s forearm, forcing him to let Carol go. She fell on her butt and scrambled to get back to the other women. Ed snarled in pain, spinning around to meet his attacker. Only to have to look down.

“You little shit!” he advanced, “you think just cause your daddy ousted Shane you can do whatever you want.”

“Carl!” Lori screamed.

“Stand down,” Carl said in a loud, but calm voice. What he used to call his dad’s ‘cop voice’.

Ed reach out to grab him, but he sidestepped the man. He could have tripped him but decided to leave that for later. Ed turned around. This time he swung out to slap him. Carl couldn’t block the shot, Ed out weighed him and had put all his strength into that swing. Instead Carl redirected the hit by catching it on his forearm and turning with the force until his back was to Ed’s front. Then he grabbed the arm, pulling it lower and across. Ed’s momentum forced him to follow his hand. Carl brought up his elbow. There was a sickening crunch as Ed’s nose connected with Carl’s elbow. He stumbled a few steps before falling face down, moaning and clutching at his nose.

He was tempted to finish it off now, but took a breath. His dads had promised that it would happen tonight. Just like last time. But there was no reason to not make it clear that Sophia and Carol were under his protection, and just what that entailed.

He placed his foot between the man’s shoulder blades. It was a laughable comparison. He could have stood with both feet shoulder width apart and he still wouldn’t fill the distance. He grabbed Ed’s short hair to yank his head up. Bending he hissed into the other’s ear, “You ever lay a hand on Carol or Sophia again and I’ll castrate you in front of the whole camp,”

He stepped back and looked over at the boulder. Duane stood up strait and proud, as if he’d been a part of the beat down Carl had just laid. And he had, in a way, Carl couldn’t have done what he did without knowing someone was watching Sophia. The girl in question smiled gratefully at him. He was surprised at that. Ed might be an abusive ass, but he was still her father. He assumed it would bother her to see someone beat him up. That didn’t seem to be the case though. Actually she looked about as relaxed as she had that morning in Duane’s tent.

His need to check on them sated, his attention turned to the women.

“You alright Carol?” he asked quietly so as not to startle her. She gave a jerky nod. At that moment his own mom snapped out of her frozen shock.

“Carl! How could you do that?” she accused

“He’s an ass,” he shrugged.

“Language!” she screeched. He crossed his arms and waited for the real tirade to begin. He loved his Mom, but frankly he was still miffed at her for cheating on Dad and blatantly lying about Judy’s parentage. And a whole lot of other stuff that he knew he’d have to deal with at some point. Especially the part about him being the one to kill her. He shook the dark thoughts off as she started.

“You can’t just beat people up because you don’t like them. Where did you learn to do any of that?” she demanded.

“He hit Sophie,” his voice dropped. It didn’t have quite the same affect as it had when he was older. The women were stunned by the declaration.

“Did your Dad teach you that? Or was it-“

“What’s going on here?” Rick demanded as he ran down the slope towards them. Daryl right on his heels. The hunter wrinkled his nose at Ed’s sprawl. When no one answered Rick’s gaze turned to Carl, an eyebrow arched. Duane and Sophia had made their way over too. The girl tucked herself into her mom’s side. Duane came to stand at Carl’s left.

“Ed tried to hurt Carol. Carl stopped him,” he supplied. Short, sweet, to the point.

“Did you teach him how to fight?” Lori asked.

“Yes, and I’m glad I did,” Rick smiled down at him. Daryl chuckled.

“Looks like ass kickin’ is in his veins,” the hunter joked, reminding them of their missing girl. Judy would be there though. Eventually. In the meantime they had a mess to clean up. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for some more Carl awesomeness?

Daryl was feeling like he could use a nap. His adrenalin had spiked when the Morales kids came running into camp. Grabbing him and Rick saying that Carl had told the siblings to get them. They had rushed over prepared for a walker or maybe a hostile human. Turns out it was a human, just one in their group. They’d been surprised to see Carl beating up Ed. A full grown man, three times his size at least. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so proud.

Not only had the kid handled himself in a fight with a much stronger opponent. He’d had enough control not to kill the man. That spoke to the state of the kid’s sanity, which he could admit to being worried about. Carl had also sent for help and ensured Sophia had a protector. He had only hit first to free Carol and then tried to de-escalate the situation. Ed had started the real fight.

Daryl was concerned, he didn’t remember a fight. Neither did Rick. When they pulled the hero of the hour aside Carl told them that it had happened last time. That it was Shane who’d beaten Ed up. He was concerned that it had happened before they left for Atlanta. Only they weren’t going there a second time, not this go around.

Lori was still pissy. No surprise there.

He was surprised at how Duane and Sophia started following Carl around. Morgan and Rick weren’t sure what to make of it. Carl seemed embarrassed. Daryl was getting a kick out of it, Glen joined him and together they had a good laugh at the kid’s expense.

That great adrenalin high from earlier was gone now. He wasn’t even crashing at this point. He was just—tired. And hungry. When was lunch going to be ready?

They’d barely gotten threw the third shift when the kids started screaming. Shit they’d forgotten, however briefly, about the wandering geek. Daryl and Rick ran ahead of the group. They found Carl standing in front of the group of kids, a knife brandished in his hand. Daryl felt a surge of pride. Their boy had seen the threat and gotten everyone a safe distance away. Only to plant himself between them and the threat.

Seeing that the kids were safe and out of harms way they ran on ahead. The others had caught up because of their brief pause to check on the kids. Daryl couldn’t be any prouder than in that moment. The walker had a knife embedded in its brain. He recognized it as the sister to the blade Carl had been holding.

“It’s a damn good thing I gave him two knives,” he didn’t realize he’d spoken out loud.

“Carl did that?” Glen asked coming up behind them.

“How? Boy’s too short,” Dale pointed out. A rustling came from the bushes and everyone had their weapons pointed into the brush. Only the let out a collective sigh as Merle walked out laughing his ass off.

“He threw it, damn kid threw the knife at the geek!” Merle doubled over laughing. Daryl rolled his eyes. Some things never changed.

“Did you teach him that?” Rick asked, looking at Daryl. He blinked.

“I thought you did,” the hunter raised an eyebrow. They stared at each other a moment. Silently they conveyed the same thought, ‘fuck’

“Throw like that, he didn’t just teach himself,” Glen spoke up.

“I’ll talk to him later, that deer still good?” Rick asked. Daryl took that as his cue to drop down next to the deer.

Last time it had been bitten and therefore inedible. He had been so mad at the whole situation. Here he’d been hunting for two days. Finally found and injured something that could give the camp, because they hadn’t yet become family not by a long shot, a real meal. All for not when that filthy walking corps had ruined it all. Then he’d gotten truly pissed when he found out about Merle.

This time though it seemed Carl had gotten the geek before it had touched the deer, “No marks, ‘sides the arrows.”

“Looks like we’ll be feasting tonight,” Rick clapped him on the back with a smile.

“I think your kid earned a name,” Glenn blurted out. Which had Daryl nodding along.

“Twice in one day,” Shane shrugged.

“What did I miss? Earning names? What’s this twice in one day shit? Was there another one of these mother fuckers?” Merle couldn’t stand not to be the center of attention.

“I’ll explain it while we move this further from camp and clean it up,” Daryl assured.

“Should just gut it here. Easier to get to camp,” Merle

“We’ve just had one walker get way too close. I’m not willing to invite more into or group unprepared,” Rick said.

“Who the hell are you? Bossin’ me around, telling me what to do. I hunted it,” Merle protested.

“Merle,” Daryl warned, “what he says makes sense.”

“Brown nose,” Merle huffed and walked off. Daryl would have to gut the deer himself. Then he realized it would be a good teaching opportunity.

“Tell anybody who wants to learn that I’m going to show y'all how to gut a deer,” Daryl told Glen. The Korean man wrinkled his forehead.

“Don’t you just take the guts out?” he asked. Daryl had to bite his tung to keep from retorting. He took a calming breath. Reminding himself that this wasn’t their Glen. Not yet. This was just one more step in helping Glen become a man capable not only of surviving, but thriving. Because he had thrived up until Negan. Up until Daryl had lost control of his temper and gotten his friend killed.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Rick stepped in. He must have noticed the way Daryl had gotten lost in his own head.

“Do it wrong and it can get you killed. Or really sick anyways,” Daryl spoke. With that Glen ran off in the direction of the camp. Shane started moving off towards camp too.

“And where do you think you’re going?” Daryl crossed his hands over his chest. Rick chuckled.

“Back to camp,” the answer was firm. Speaking of a man not used to taking orders. Not anymore. Daryl was going to quash that under his heel.

“Fat chance, you need to learn to do this,” he felt like he was giving Carl or Judie a scolding.

“What about the camp?” the deputy questioned, arms crossed.

“I’m going back to my post,” Dale bowed out of what he assumed was a brewing argument.

“I already know how to do this and I doubt many people will really want to learn,” Rick assured his friend. Shane begrudgingly agreed and Rick headed back to camp. Glen came back with a few of the others. Daryl had them take turns carrying the deer. They had to get use to this sort of thing.

 


	11. Turn the Page

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Zombie Crossing

That night everyone gathered around the camp fire with slices of cooked deer. Rick made sure to plant himself next to Daryl this time. Merle sat grumbling on the other side of his brother. He didn’t like how cozy Daryl and Rick were. Tough cookies. Carl had planted himself on Rick’s other side. Sophia and Duane next to him. With Carol and Morgan boxing the kids in. Ed was laid up in his tent, unknowingly set to become the first victim of tonights attack.

As everyone ate Glen stood up. He’d discussed this with Rick and Daryl. They hadn’t wanted to come off as favoring their kid. Having Glen put forth the proposal would make Carl’s Naming more legitimate. All eyes turned toward the Korean man.

“I’d like to, I guess nominate someone for Naming,” Glen’s eyes strayed to Rick’s looking for approval. Which he had in spades.

“What’s a Naming?” Merle asked. He had only come back to camp when the smell of cooking meat reached him. Daryl hadn’t had time to explain anything to him.

“They’re code names that we use when we meet other groups. They’re earned by providing for and protecting the group,” Shane explained.

“Alright Hermes, why do you nominate this person and who do you honor?” Rick asked. Glen perked up at the name.

“Today he protected our..family,” Glen raised an eyebrow and Daryl nodded his approval at his choice of words, “Not once, but twice. From threats inside the group and from a walker.”

“He protected Carol from the abuse that we as a group shouldn’t have tolerated in the first place,” Glen continued. There was shame across several faces. People murmured sorries at Carol.

“Not long after he defended the children of our family from a zombie, despite the fact that he is the same age as them,” Glen made a gesture to a beaming Carl, “I nominate Carl to receive a Name.”

People cheered and clapped. Lori looked unhappy, but made no objections as of yet.

“So what’s my name?” Carl stood up and asked the crowd.

“Hercules!” Duane shouted.

“Who was famous for his labors, which he only had to do because he’d killed his own children? Not a chance. My son will have a better life than that,” Rick struck that idea down fast. He’d already thought hard about a name for his son. Carl looked disappointed.

“Ares?” Shane suggested.

“The god of war?” someone asked.

“He sounds mean, Carl isn’t mean. He didn’t start a fight, he protected,” Sophia protested.

“He wants to be an archer, why not Apollo?” Daryl suggested.

“I thought you would have picked that for yourself?” Carl questioned.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve already decided he’s Hera,” Michonne snickered, “he’s been acting jealous of all the women batting their eyes at Rick.”

“Hell no, I’m not gonna let my name be Hera. We’re discussing Carl’s name, not mine,” Daryl protested. Rick agreed. Hera reminded him of Lori, not Daryl.

“What about something a little more, unique?” Rick asked.

“Like what?” Carl asked.

“What do you think of Soter, the personification of safety, preservation, and deliverance from harm?”

“That sounds like Carl,” Sophia nodded.

“I like it, Zeus,” Carl smiled at him.

Rick got up, moving around to clasp Carl’s shoulders, “I present Soter, the protector.”

People cheered and clapped. When they had settled down Daryl reached around behind him for the present they’d wrapped in cloth that had once been a shirt that was beyond repair.

“We were saving this until we got to the farm, but your Dad and me think you’ve earned these,” Daryl held the bundle out. Carl reached out and unwrapped the gift. His eyes went wide.

“A bow, and a quiver of arrows,” Carl breathed out as he picked up the bow to test the tensile strength.

“You need something that’ll let you attack from a distance,” Rick ruffled his hair.

“And you can hunt with this,” Daryl added. Lori stomped her way over and popped their bubble of happiness.

“No, this-you can’t just give him a weapon! You aren’t his father,” Lori shoved Daryl away from Carl and Rick. Everyone in camp went tense. Merle stood up in a flash, but kept his distance for the moment.

“If I hadn’t given him a weapon we could have lost the kids today,” Daryl’s voice was calm.

“And it’s a present from both of us,” Rick drew Daryl to his side.

“He’s-he is manipulating you Rick. Why can’t you see that?” Lori demanded. Merle was about to take a step forward when Shane stood up.

“Daryl isn’t the manipulative one here,” Shane growled.

“Didn’t we just have a discussion last night about how this isn’t the world we knew? That we all have to be able to defend ourselves?” Andrea asked, patting the gun that sat in a holster at her hip now. Rick had scrounged it up from some of the supplies he and Morgan had raided at the station. He didn’t want her accidentally shooting herself, or someone else, if the gun fell out of the back of her pants.

“I think just about everyone’s got a weapon on them after training today,” Amy’s eyes trailed to the cane at her side. It was the best they could do for her right now, but Michonne thought the girl would be good with a sword.

“But not the kids. Carl is too young to use a bow, or a knife for that matter,” Lori protested.

“Well I for one am glad that Carl had those knives today. It probably saved my son’s life,” Morgan said.

“But none of us would give our kids dangerous weapons!” Lori argued.

“Before today you would have been right,” Morgan nudged Duane who pulled out a knife, “but I could have lost my son if yours hadn’t been armed.”

Lori stared in horror at the sight of the young boy holding the hooked fishing knife. It’s serrated edge would leave a mangled strip of flesh if someone was unfortunate enough to get too close. Duane jutted his chin out to Sofia. The girl took off what looked like her belt, but was actually a whip.

“I told Miss Micchone that I did ribbon in gymnastics. She thought this would be a good fit,” Sophia held up the braided leather. She gave it a twirl before snapping it, causing the whip to make a sound like the crash of thunder. Rick nodded in approval. She was small, even for her age. Something he blamed her father for. She needed a light weight midrange weapon to use against taller, stronger opponents. She was also comfortable with the weapon already thanks to her previous experiences.

“If this were the world of before I would agree with you Lori, but it isn’t,” Mr. Morales folded his arms as his son pulled out a gun. His little girl held up an aluminum baseball bat. Rick watched the girl’s eyes as she looked towards the gun in her brother’s hand. That was going to cause a point of contention he could tell. They’d be gone before it was his problem though, so he wouldn’t say anything.

“You’re all cra-“

“Ah!” a scream pierced the air, cutting Lori off. Everyone pulled out their weapons. Parents gathered close to their kids. Everyone looked to Rick and Daryl. He felt a surge of pride, knowing that their lessons had already helped the group. They hadn’t scattered and all gone running towards or away from the screams this time.

“Shane, Merle come with me. Everyone else make your way to the RV. Listen to Daryl and Michonne. If you can get the kids in the RV,” Rick directed.

The groups split off. When they reached Ed, Rick wasn’t surprised that he was already dead. They picked off zombies as they made their way back to the group. The group was set up in a set of defensive rings. The first were people with guns who knew how to use them. The second was another ring of gun users. Less confident but able to take the place of someone reloading. The third was melee weapons. In the center were the kids, Morgan, who was deemed irreplaceable because of he was their only doctor, and those who lacked weapons. Which only consisted of Lori, another woman, and Jim.

Rick and the others joined the ranks before the first wave hit. After that everything was a blur of death. At some point one of the people who’d died last time broke ranks to try to run. The zombies got him and it left them open to attack. Unfortunately that meant the man’s support was taken by surprise. The zombies killed her. Carl grabbed the Maralis boy’s gun, stepping up to reinforce the circle after ending the unfortunate woman. Sophia stepping up behind him to act as his support. Keeping the zombies away with a crack of her whip to their skulls. Duane grabbed his father’s spare gun. When Carl’s gun ran out Duane handed him the full gun and taking the empty one. Which he then reloaded.

Wave after wave came at the group. But they only broke ranks the once. After the last zombie had its face sliced in half by Michonne everyone relaxed. People started to walk away. Rick couldn’t let that happen.

“Hold!” Rick ordered. Several ignored him.

“Why? They’re all dead?” someone pointed out.

“We don’t know that,” Daryl barked.

“We have to clear the camp first. Small groups, hand guns.” Rick said, his orders short and to the point.

“I need to take a piss,” one of the guys who’d broken off complained. The man turned to make his way to the edge of the woods. He’d just gone past the first tent when a walker jumped out and bit his neck. A quick shot from Daryl’s bow ended the walker. A bullet from Rick’s gun ended the soon to be walker.

“Stay in the group until the camp is cleared by the small groups,” Rick ordered, knowing his voice sounded worn. No one objected. When the camp was cleared they started the process of burning the dead and burying the living. Morgan went through everyone, checking for bites.

The doctor’s solemn face told Rick everything he needed to know.

“Who?” he asked quietly.

“Jim, right hypochondriac. Nothing else it could of been but a bite,”

Daryl had been standing next to Rick looked up at him and asked, “what do you want to do?”

“I know what I want to do. End the mans suffering, but I don’t think that’ll go over with this crowd,” Rick sighed thinking about his options.

“Maybe we should let Jim have a say?” Morgan offered.

“If it were me I’d want a bullet as soon as possible. No sense in making everyone watch as I die and come back,” Daryl mumbled so only the two of them could hear. There was no sense in letting the camp panic this time.

“Morgan get one of the go bags. We’ll give Jim the option of taking the bag or taking a bullet. Not about to endanger the group,” Rick reasoned. As Morgan walked off they turned back to the process of disposing of the bodies. 


	12. What About Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to set out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not over yet folks. I'm working through the next fic. I've got a few chapters done but I don't want to post any of those until I have more done. Hope y'all keep reading!

Daryl started going mechanically through the motions of burning walkers until Glen got in his way.

“What’s your problem man?” Daryl asked more gruffly than he normally would have. He was exhausted. No sleep. A herd coming through their camp. Now having to hall the walkers to a fire. He was ready to collapse.

“You can’t burn him!” Glen shouted.

“What ’s just a walker,” Daryl looked down only to see that it wasn’t a walker. It was one of their own. He stopped. It was something they’d kept for a long time. One of the first laws of their group. A corner stone of the family’s foundation.

“We burry our own,” Glen said firmly. Daryl pulled off his gloves. He placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

“Yer right, we do. I’m just a little tired, didn’t realize-thanks Glen,” Daryl gave him a twitch of his lips, which was the closest thing he could get to a smile right now.

“Naw, I-I just, it’s all a little-I’m sorry for yelling,” Glen finally settled on a response. With that he called over the guys who were moving the bodies to be buried. He picked up his pick axe and headed to the last body, Ed.

Just like last time he raised the pick above his head only to be stopped by Carol. He watched as the frail woman gripped the too heavy pick axe. Then she brought it down. Over and over again. He stepped in, carefully handing the pick to someone else. Daryl wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. Soothing her as she cried. Cried for Ed. Cried for Sophia. Cried for herself. Cried for the group. Cried for this whole shitty situation.

When she was exhausted he let Shane and Mike take her to Morgan’s tent. While other tents had been trampled their small corner had remained intact. Things seemed to be whining down. But Daryl still had adrenaline pumping through his veins. He needed something. Looking at Rick and his own heated gaze made Daryl ache. Ah, found it.

“Alright, those who feel up to it go ahead and start packing up, but don’t load up the vehicles just yet. We need to figure out where we’re going from here. Those who could use a little break feel free to grab yourself some food or a quick nap. We’ll leave after noon,” Rick ordered. Everyone was more weary of the lands surrounding the camp, good. They needed to be aware of what was going on in their surroundings. It could be the difference between life and death.

Daryl let those thoughts slip away as he made his way towards his and Rick’s tent. He threw a look over his shoulder to make sure Rick was following. He smirked when he saw the fire in his sheriff’s eyes. He added a little sway to his hips, just to hear the groan Rick let out when he saw what Daryl was tempting him with. It wasn’t often they had the time for penetrative sex, but he was determined to make time for it right then.

  
—————————

  
Rick sighed as he lazily stretched. Daryl took the opportunity to roll over and drape himself over him. Rick wrapped his arms back around Daryl’s waist. The hunter’s lips twitched before breaking into a full on smile.

“Have I told you lately that I love you?” Rick asked as he drew lazy circles across warm skin. Daryl hummed and nuzzled into the crook of Rick’s neck and shoulder. There wasn’t a need to communicate further, the hum telling him that his feelings were returned. He couldn’t remember a time before this silent communication between them. Even on that run back to Atlanta to get Merle they’d communicated with just a nod, or a raised eyebrow. Everyone thought they were hard to read, but that wasn’t true at all. People just hadn’t learned their not so secret language.

“Can’t stay here forever. More herds will start heading out soon,” Daryl said though he made no move to get up.

“Only lost five this time. That’s good,” Rick mused.

“More mouths to feed,” he pointed out.

“How many do you think will go with us?” Rick asked. Daryl quirked a brow, silently expressing his opinion that he didn’t think that many would go somewhere they didn’t know. A place that might promise shelter, but had no real guarantee of it.

“Think we should tell them where we’re going?” Rick asked.

“Just Hershel’s, anymore and we risk the family come winter,” Daryl reasoned. They continued to bask in their comfort they took from each other. It should be uncomfortable laying in a tent under piles of sleeping bags in the Atlanta summer heat.

With a sigh Rick nudged his husband off so they could start getting dressed. They’d just stepped out of their tent when someone screamed, “Jim’s been bit!”

That set them running. They found the group surrounding Jim as he sat up against a tree. They were all talking over each other. A glance revealed Carl had the other kids off to the side.

“Go start taking down our tents,” Rick told them. Sophia, Duane and the Morales kids were quick to obey the order but Carl continued to stand with his arms crossed.

“They don’t need to see their families debating on whether or not to kill a man just yet,” Daryl reasoned with their son. Carl seemed to mull that over before nodding his expectance. With the kids out from underfoot they were able to turn to the problem at hand.

Right in time for Merle to lunge for Jim. Shane pulled the man back and started yelling at him. The argument deteriorated into a competition for top dog and who could insult the other more. It was like watching a couple of thirteen year olds.

“Remind me again why we wanted to save them?” Daryl muttered so only Rick could hear him. Rick gave him a swat to the ass that made the hunter squeak. Daryl whipped around to glare at him, blush across his suntanned cheeks. Rick just smiled back cheekily. They turned back to the fighting confident no one had seen them until they caught Glen’s shocked face. When he noticed that they had noticed him staring he blushed and turned away.

“What’s going on?” Rick called out.

“None of yer business,” Merle replied at the same time Shane said, “Stay out of this Rick.”

“Jim is bit,” Jaclyn said around the pillars of testosterone. Rick nodded, knowing this already.

“I say we put him out of his misery,” Merle pointed a gun at Jim’s head. Only to find Daryl standing between him and his target.

“And I say that it isn’t your decision to make pigfucker!” Shane shouted.

“Put that thing away ‘fore you get someone killed. Namely yourself,” Daryl scolded Merle before turning on Shane, “and you stop insulting my brother or I’ll kick yer ass.”

“We already knew that Jim was bitten-“ Rick started to explain but was cut off by the group’s outrage.

“Quiet!” Morgan called out above the noise. When they all shut up the doctor added, “We’ve all just had a rough night. Most of us haven’t slept yet. We didn’t want the group to panic,”

“And what if he’d turned? He could have killed someone!” Andrea protested.

“Which is why he’s been under my supervision this entire time,” Morgan pointed out.

“Listen we thought we’d give Jim a choice in private so we didn’t have to do this in front of the group,” Rick spoke up again.

“A choice, about what?” Dale asked. He was concerned for Jim. Dale had been their conscience in those early days. Rick wasn’t sure when it would happen but he knew the man would die from something other than natural causes.

“To either let us keep him from becoming a walker by killing him, or to take a BOB and go,” Rick said.

“You can’t just kill a man!” Morales protested, good catholic that he was.

“We can’t just abandon him. He’s sick, he needs help,” Dale reasoned.

“I think Atlanta General is serving as a mortuary instead of a hospital at the moment,” T-Dog snorted.

“What about the CDC? Couldn’t they help him?” Jaclyn asked.

“It’s not that far,” one man reasoned.

“The CDC, the hospitals, the police stations, the military bases, will all be worse than useless,” Daryl pointed out.

“Why’s that?” someone asked.

“We’ve already be over this, there isn’t anything left of the government support systems from the old world,” Shane shook his head.

“But Daryl said they’d be worse than useless, how do you figure that?”

“Because where does everyone turn to when they’re desperate? Those support systems. They’ll have been over run by the living who soon turned into the walking dead.” Rick explained.

“The CDC is a place that stores world ending diseases. They aren’t going to have left it to chance that electricity might come back on. There will be failsafes,” Morgan spoke up.

“Like what?”

“There’s only one way to get rid of a pathogen,” Morgan wouldn’t look at them.

“From ashes to ashes,” Daryl added.

“You’re saying it’ll blow up? Surely they’ve got solar panels or something,” Shane asked.

“Even if it did, solar panels require upkeep. Eventually without anyone to perform maintenance or replace parts it would self destruct either way,” Morgan told the group.

“Maybe that hasn’t happened yet,” Jaclyn suggested.

“We could use some answers to what this disease is,” another man agreed.

“We have to at least try to save Jim,” another woman added. Rick looked around seeing various people agreeing. It was time to split the group.

“I can’t force anyone to do anything. If you want to try the CDC, then my prayers are with you along with your share of the supplies,” Rick spoke up.

“Are you saying that you aren’t going to the CDC?” Lori asked.

“No, me and anyone who wants to come, are heading towards a farm that isn’t too far away. Me, Daryl, and Michonne know the owner. He’s offered sanctuary on his property. We’ll have access to food from the farm, clean water from a well, a roof over our heads. Things we will need come winter,” Rick told the group.

“Those of you going to the CDC or anywhere else will be given directions on how to get to the farm. Can’t guarantee we’ll still be there if you show up, but that’s where we are heading,” Daryl stepped back over to stand at Rick’s side.

“We have family out in Birmingham. I think me and my family will head there first,” Morales confessed.

“Start packing and decide which direction you’re going. CDC people, I need to speak to whoever is going to be leading you,” Rick announced before walking off with Daryl. They hadn’t been walking very long when Daryl nodded towards Dale. With a sigh the deputy left his hunter.

“Dale can I have a word?” Rick asked the elderly man.

“Sure thing Rick,” Dale said as he stopped outside of his RV. Rick guided them away from prying eyes.

“I know you’re thinking of going to the CDC,” Rick acknowledged.

“Jim needs someone to look after him,” Dale took off his hat to run a hand over his balding head.

“He has a whole group looking after him. If he hadn’t been bitten all those people would be going with us. They’re good people looking after him, but…”

“But what?”

“I don’t think they’ll get to the CDC before Jim dies,” Rick confessed.

“You can’t know that,” Dale protested his face twisted with pain. Rick wasn't going to get Dale to go with them this way.

“Glen needs you more than Jim does,” Rick revealed.

“What? Where did that come from?” Dale asked.

“Jim was a mechanic. A family man. More to the point he is an adult. Young sure, but grown up. Glen is still just a kid. He could use a guiding hand, someone to teach him how to fix vehicles,”

“Why can’t you, or someone else, do that?”

“I’m leading this group to the best of my abilities. I barely have time for my own kid, let alone helping turn an adolescent boy into a man. I’ve got a pretty good idea of who all is coming along and I don’t think Glen will mesh with them like he does with you,” Rick said.

“How do I know you don’t just want my RV?” Dale narrowed his eyes. Rick laughed.

“Because it’s maneuverability is shit and it guzzles gas like a man strait out of a dessert drinks water. It’s falling apart. Frankly I wish you’d just leave it here,” Rick’s rant had the old man’s jaw hanging open. Then Dale chuckled.

“Alright, for Glen I’ll go with you lot, but only because I know Jim is being looked after,” Dale conceded. Rick clapped him on the shoulder. They started packing camp up.

In the end the group that was heading towards the farm looked much the same as the original family. With the addition of Amy, Morgan, Merle, Michonne and her family, along with two other women and a man. Supplies were divided evenly based on how many were in each group. Rick met with the leader of the CDC group. Choosing to give him the hand grenade. It might just save their lives just like it had saved the family last time.

This time though Rick road with Morgan, Duane, and Carl instead of Lori. Daryl put his things in their jeep. He kissed Rick in front of the camp to varying reactions, including a cheer from Carl, a furious look from Lori, an eye rolling from Michonne. Merle also looked at them, but Rick couldn’t make out his expression. Daryl got onto his own motorbike to serve as a point man with his brother at the front of the convoy. Every vehicle had a walkie-talkie for easy communication. Everyone was clear on what to do if they were separated.

Finally the group was heading towards the Green’s farm. And from there, home, Rick thought to himself. He couldn’t wait to be back at the prison. Not even Alexandria felt like home the way that the prison had. He glanced in his rear view at Carl before glancing up to find Daryl looking back at him where he was just ahead of their car.

Rick realized that he was already home. Well, almost. They were still missing one very special little ass kicker after all. But she’d be with them soon enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone I just posted the first chapter of the next fic! It's so exciting. Please make sure to read the end notes of that first chapter cause I'm asking for some votes from readers on two issues.


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